Richmond clears La Salle University by 16 points

The University of Richmond women’s lacrosse team continued its perfect record against La Salle University on March 15 with a 19-3 victory. 

With this win, the Spiders improved their conference record to 2-1, while La Salle fell to 0-3. The Explorers have faced troubles this season, not recording a win since their first game, putting them on a seven game losing streak. 

Richmond has never recorded a loss to La Salle in the two teams’ 22 game history. This game marks the largest margin of victory for the Spiders, beating the previous 2008 record of 19-5. 

Dominating the field from the very beginning, Richmond held the Explorers goalless for the first half of the contest. Junior attacker Alexis Morton led the charge, snagging the first goal of the game and picking up six points in the first quarter. La Salle carded four shots, but couldn’t seem to find the back of the net. Richmond tallied 20 shots, pushing through the Explorers 10-0 leading into the second quarter. 

“The game plan was definitely to start off strong,” said Head Coach Anne Harrington in a postgame interview. “[We] really wanted to pack the first punch there. So, mission accomplished.”

Scoring slowed for the Spiders in the second quarter as they found fewer opportunities to score, recording 8 shots. Despite the Explorers searching for points on the board, Richmond held firm with sophomore goalkeeper Abby Francioli saving both shots on goal from La Salle in the quarter. Senior attacker Colleen Quinn aided the Spiders, assisting three of the four goals for Richmond. Hopes of a shutout held and Spiders held a 14-0 lead at the break. 

Senior midfielder Grace Muldoon opened the third quarter for the Spiders with her 20th goal of the season, before assisting Quinn in a goal minutes later. Richmond continued to record goals before the Explorers finally snapped the Spiders’ 18-0 run, netting their first goal with four minutes on the clock.

A scoring drought plagued the field for a majority of the fourth quarter until Richmond took advantage of a free position shot with just under six minutes remaining. A little too late, La Salle scored back-to-back goals to close the game, 19-3 in a Richmond victory. 

The Spiders will have another chance to improve their conference record against St. Bonaventure University on March 22 at noon in St. Bonaventure, N.Y.

“Every conference opponent is an important one as we move forward, but there’s a lot of lacrosse left to play,” Harrington said.

The Spiders are currently on a 16 game winning streak against the Bonnies, who have not carded a win against Richmond since 2006. Last season, the Spiders dominated St. Bonaventure 17-9.  

Contact sports editor Abigail Finney at abigail.finney@richmond.edu