Women’s lacrosse stays undefeated with home opener victory

The University of Richmond women’s lacrosse team defeated Liberty University 16-8 in a sunny afternoon game at E. Claiborne Robins Stadium Feb. 18. 

After winning their first two games of the season away at the Queens University Charlotte and the College of William & Mary, respectively, the Spiders secured their third straight victory to stay undefeated on the young season. 

“3-0 of course is where we want to be,” head coach Anne Harrington said after the game. “I think we have really strong leadership and a senior class here that is taking charge of things. I think we’ve started off strong with each game and I love to see that as a coach.”

The game was evenly matched to begin play, as the Spiders and the Flames traded goals to start the first quarter. Just over two minutes into play, senior midfielder Kendall Duffy scored the Spiders’ first goal of the game, with an assist from sophomore attacker Colleen Quinn. 

What began as a 1-1 tie, however, did not last long. Over time, the Spiders pulled ahead and scored nine unanswered goals to put UR up 10-1 with 6:06 to go in the second quarter. At halftime, UR led Liberty 12-3. 

In the second half, the Flames gained some offensive momentum as they held the Spiders to one goal in the third quarter. Despite a slow quarter for the Spiders offensively, though, UR carried a 13-5 lead into the final quarter. 

As time expired, the Spiders ran away with a 16-8 final score. Though Liberty led UR in draw controls, 15-13, and free position shots, 6-2, UR took 24 shots on goal compared to Liberty’s 16 and picked up 25 ground balls compared to Liberty’s 9. 

On the day, senior midfielder Lindsey Frank led all scorers with six goals. During the game, she scored her 150th point as a Spider, which counts goals and assists combined. 

“I owe it to my teammates,” Frank said after the game. “Without them feeding me or setting up plays for me, I wouldn’t be able to do this.” 

Senior attacker Arden Tierney and senior midfielder Sophia DiCenso each chipped in two goals. Tierney also had four assists. Quinn had three goals, bringing her total to 10 on the season thus far. 

“I think when it came down to it, we just played off each other really well on the offense and if we had slip ups, we had a great ride to get the ball back,” Frank said. “Had a lot of good defensive stops so it really helped us out today.”

UR’s next game is away against Howard University on Feb. 26. 

Contact sports editor Jimmy James @jimmy.james@richmond.edu.