University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
13-1, 6-0
UMass (Semifinals)
10-6, 3-3
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Massachusetts | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 7 |
| Richmond | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 11 |
No. 3 Spiders Advance to Nation-Best 12th Consecutive Conference Title Game With 11-7 Semifinal Win Over UMass
04/30/2026 | Men's Lacrosse
Richmond, Va. – The No. 3 and top-seeded University of Richmond men's lacrosse team advanced to its nation-best 12th consecutive conference championship game with an 11–7 win over fourth-seeded UMass Minutemen in the Atlantic 10 Betterment Men's Lacrosse Championship semifinals Thursday afternoon at Robins Stadium.
Atlantic 10 Offensive Player of the Year Aidan O'Neil continued to cement his legacy as one of Richmond's all-time greats, setting a new single-season assist record with 42 on the year. He tallied four assists Thursday as part of a season-high-tying seven-point performance.
Atlantic 10 Midfielder of the Year Joe Sheridan (2 goals), First Team All-Atlantic 10 selection Gavin Creo (2 goals), and Daniel Picart (2 goals) and Jack Ricciardi (one goal, one assist) all recorded two points in the win. O'Neil is now three points shy of tying and four away from breaking Richmond's single-season points record (78), set by Ryan Lanchbury in 2022.
O'Neil opened the scoring with two goals in the game's first 64 seconds, helping Richmond build a 4–1 lead by the 4:05 mark. Ricciardi and Picart added early goals, both assisted by O'Neil, while Ricciardi also assisted on O'Neil's first tally.
O'Neil completed his hat trick at 9:07 of the second quarter to make it 5–1. Sheridan followed with a goal off an O'Neil assist at 4:50 before UMass scored late in the half. Creo scored his first of the night off a feed from O'Neil with two seconds left in the second, sending Richmond into the break with a 6–2 lead. O'Neil's assist on Creo's goal marked his fourth of the game and 42nd of the season, setting the program's single-season assist record.
Creo extended the lead with his second goal at 12:21 of the third quarter. After a UMass score, Jack Pilling added a transition goal at 7:44 following a caused turnover by Hunter Smith. Smith was one of eight Spiders to record a caused turnover as Richmond forced 15 total, including five on clears. Richmond went 20-of-22 on clears, while UMass finished 16-of-21.
UMass scored twice in a 30-second span late in the third to cut the deficit to 9–5, then added another early in the fourth to make it 9–6. Sheridan answered at 10:40, and Picart added his second at 9:28 to push the lead back to five. UMass netted its final goal at 5:08.
Richmond controlled possession throughout, dominating the faceoff stripe (14-of-20). Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year Vincent Gaylord won 11-of-16 draws and collected nine ground balls, while Anthony DiCenso went 3-of-4 and helped Richmond to a 32–24 edge in ground balls.
Connor Knight made 13 saves in goal for the Spiders.
With the win, Richmond extended its Atlantic 10 winning streak to 13 games and moved within one victory of matching last year's program-record 14 wins in a season.
The Spiders will play for the Atlantic 10 Betterment Men's Lacrosse Championship and meet Saint Joseph's on Saturday at noon at Robins Stadium.
