Midway through season, most Richmond teams are excelling

Men’s Lacrosse

Richmond’s lacrosse team has had its best start in program history, going 6-2 overall, and 2-0 in conference play. The highlight of the season so far was beating No. 9 Duke 12-10, which had not lost at home to an unranked team in more than seven years.

After that win, Richmond was ranked No. 18 – the first time the program had ever been nationally ranked. Since then, Richmond beat Jacksonville and lost to No. 17 North Carolina on the road. The Spiders’ offense is led by Mitch Goldberg, who has 19 goals and five assists this season.

The Spiders will play their next game at 1 p.m. on Sunday against High Point at home. Richmond is not currently ranked, but it is noted as receiving votes on the NCAA website, so its performance in the coming weeks will determine its entry into the national tournament.

Women’s Lacrosse

The women’s lacrosse team also started well, with a 4-3 record so far. It has not yet started conference play and is coming off of a four-game series on the road.

The team, led by standout freshman Mia Castagnero, beat American in double overtime, the highlight of its season. She scored the goal that tied them with 0.04 seconds left, allowing the teams to proceed to double overtime, where she then scored the winning goal. Castagnero has been named A-10 Rookie of the Week three weeks in a row, and she has led the offense with 23 goals, which has placed her in the top 10 in the nation for goals scored.

Richmond will return to the Robins Stadium at 5 p.m. on Friday, April 1 in a face-off with VCU. There will be another home game the same weekend at  1 p.m. on Sunday, April 3 against George Mason.

Baseball

Richmond baseball ranks on several national charts. According to Richmond Athletics, Richmond is fifth in batting average (.340) and in the top 10 for slugging percentage (.526) and doubles per game (2.55). It is also in the top 25 for triples per game (.55), on-base percentage (.417) and scoring (7.9).

The baseball team currently boasts a 12-9 record and is 8-3 at home. It had its first conference game on Thursday, March 24, against Saint Joseph’s. The Spiders have been picked as fourth in the A-10 coaches poll this year. Richmond is returning with 19 players from last year’s squad, including A-10 player of the year Michael Morman, and Kyle Adams and Daniel Brumbaugh, who were both named to the All-Rookie team.

Track and Field

The women’s track and field team began its outdoor season coming off of a fourth-place title at the 2016 A-10 Indoor Championships. Its first outdoor meet of the spring was on March 19 at the Tribe Invitational in Williamsburg, Virginia, where the team took four first-place finishes and placed second overall.

Sophomore Amanda Corbosiero (800 m), sophomore Liz Montague (long jump), senior Janel Francis (100 m) and senior Jade Gregory (200 m) all won their events.

The Spiders will host their only home meet this coming weekend, the Fred Hardy Invitational, on Friday and Saturday.

Men’s Tennis

After a series of five straight losses, most of which were played out of state, the men’s tennis team has been able to pull off back-to-back victories in Virginia. Last Wednesday the team dominated James Madison, 7-0. It also beat Norfolk State, 6-0.

Head coach Ben Johnson said that he was proud and impressed by the team’s performance lately. Its next match is Tuesday, March 29 against George Mason.

Women’s Tennis

Richmond is returning from a successful spring break trip to Florida, where it beat Bowling Green, Stetson and Appalachian State. Before this the Spiders had struggled in indoor play because of nagging injuries, but head coach Mark Wesselink said he felt confident now that the team would be playing outdoors more consistently.

Freshmen Ana Ramirez and Ana Abadias Morales are players to watch. They have won A-10 Rookie of the Week for their contributions to the team. Richmond’s next competition is on Friday in Washington, D.C., against George Washington, but Richmond will be home again at 1 p.m. on Saturday to play against Norfolk State.

Men’s Golf

To open the season, Richmond placed second out of 13 teams at the Atlantic 10 Match Play Championships in Weston, Florida. Richmond was ranked to finish second in the preseason and was surpassed only by VCU that day.

Since then, the team has competed at the Mission Inn Spring Spectacular, where it placed seventh of 18, and the Seahawk Intercollegiate, where it placed 10th of 14. Both tournaments were in Kiawah Island, South Carolina. The next tournament will be the Wolfpack Spring Invitational in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Saturday, April 16 and Sunday, April 17.

Women’s Golf

The Spiders were picked second in the Patriot League in the annual pre-season poll. Last year, it placed fourth in the championship, but after some impressive turnouts in the fall, such as a 12th-place finish in a Wisconsin tournament, the expectations are high.

Players to watch are returning senior Jessica Lydia and sophomore Elsa Diaz, both of who placed in the top 10 in last year’s championship. So far, the Spiders have placed third at the Bulldog Florida Invitational. The next competition is the William and Mary Intercollegiate on Monday, March 28, and Tuesday, March 29.

Contact sports editor Jennie Trejo at jennifer.trejo@richmond.edu