The University of Richmond field hockey team won 4-0 against La Salle University on Oct. 5, making its conference record 3-0.
The Spiders controlled the majority of possessions in the first few minutes of the game. La Salle blocked a goal attempt five minutes into the first period.
UR drew two penalty corners with four and a half minutes left in the period. The first attempt was unsuccessful, but sophomore forward Clara Larripa was able to score her eighth goal of the season on the second.
In the second period, the Spiders quickly drew a penalty corner, but the Explorers deflected the shot. UR drew another penalty corner a minute later. The shot appeared to hit the mark, but the goal was declared void by officials.
First-year forward Margaret Scheurer scored her first career goal five and a half minutes into the period. The Spiders drew their fifth penalty corner with two and a half minutes left in the half, but the shot went wide.
Leading into the second half, the Explorers had not attempted a single shot. The Spiders drew the first penalty corner of the third period but were unable to score.
With ten and half minutes left in the period, La Salle drew three penalty corners, but all of their attempts fell short. The Explorer’s third corner seemed to be successful, but it was declared a no-goal after the play went under review.
Midway through the period, UR drew three penalty corners. The first two attempts fell short, but the third led to Larripa scoring her second goal of the game. A few minutes later, Larripa received a green card, momentarily taking her out of the game.
La Salle drew an unsuccessful penalty corner eleven and a half minutes into the period. The Explorers drew another penalty corner less than two minutes later but were yet again left without a goal.
The Spiders drew two penalty corners three minutes into the fourth period, but they were unable to score both times.
The Explorers were still looking to get points on the board, and they began to apply more pressure on the Spiders. With nine minutes left in the game, La Salle drew a penalty corner but fell short of a goal again. One minute later La Salle attempted to score, but this shot also missed the mark.
UR drew its fifteenth corner of the game with just under a minute of playing time left in the game. They were unsuccessful but immediately drew another where junior midfielder Alexa Derr scored her first goal of the season. This last-minute goal allowed the final score to come out to 4-0, which produced the Spider’s fifth win in a row.
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Playing against La Salle was personal for several UR team members. Sophomore midfielder Camila Daud and Larripa transferred from La Salle to UR this season.
Daud, who is currently injured, was hoping to recover in time to play but remained on the sidelines.
“In the back of my mind, it was probably the game I wanted to play the most, but once I understood that I needed to take another role for my team, I was ok,” Daud said after the game. “I felt like [my team] was playing for me tonight.”
Daud and Larripa visited a La Salle player the night before the game.
“Being far away is hard because freshman year we were very close,” Daud said.
Larripa had been nervous about La Salle knowing her playing style prior to the game.
“They knew how to mark me,” Larripa said post-game. “It was ok because I knew I could handle it, and I knew that they were coming.”
UR Head Coach Martu Loncarica also moved from La Salle to UR this season.
“Obviously, playing against somebody that you coached in the past is hard, but I tried to put all of that aside and think of it as another conference game,” Loncarica said. “I tried to leave my emotions out of it. I think our team overall did a good job of controlling any external factors coming into the game.”
UR’s next game will be at James Madison University at 2 p.m. Oct. 5. JMU will be coming off a 5-1 win against Ohio University, while the Spiders will be seeking to further their successful 8-2 overall record this season.
Contact lifestyle editor Abigail Finney at abigail.finney@richmond.edu.
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