Lacrosse coach resigns mid-season

Women's lacrosse head coach Sue Murphy unexpectedly resigned last Wednesday during the middle of the season for undisclosed reasons.

Women's soccer head coach Peter Albright has assumed the role of interim head coach while a national search is underway for a new coach. Second-year assistant coach Alli Nuzzi, a former Spider lacrosse captain and four-year starter, will continue in her current role.

The team has a 0-10 record after playing a tough schedule against perennial powerhouses in the Atlantic Coast Conference such as the University of Maryland, Duke University, University of North Carolina and University of Virginia, as well as nationally ranked teams in the Colonial Athletic Association such as James Madison University and the College of William & Mary.

"The season is not over for us," Nuzzi said. "This team knows how to fight. There are eight more games left and they are ready to win. This record upsets them because the record doesn't show how great they have played in some moments of these games against tough teams."

The team is determined to play well in the Atlantic 10 and be regular-season champions again as well as aim for the A-10 conference tournament championship with a bid to the NCAA championships, Nuzzi said.

Athletic Director Jim Miller asked Albright to help assist with the transition between Murphy and the next head coach. It would have been hard to find a coach during the remaining four weeks of the season and time was a factor, Albright said.

Albright has 28 years of experience as a women's soccer head coach and 13 of those years have been spent with the Richmond women's team.

"I have more knowledge about lacrosse now than I did three days ago," he said. "I told the team that I'm not a lacrosse coach, but I am here to help."

With Nuzzi as his assistant, Albright was positive about the rest of the season.

"She's very qualified and well-prepared," Albright said. "Coaching on the field, practices, games, game management, tactics and subs, she is virtually 100 percent qualified and running the team."

This has been an emotional week, Albright and Nuzzi said.

"They're a bit devastated," Nuzzi said. "Murphy brought them here through recruiting, and the seniors have spent multiple seasons with her, but they are determined to win. I have full faith that we will do some damage in the A-10 this year."

Senior captains Mandy Friend and Alli Furstenburg said that Murphy's resignation was a blow to the team, but they were confident that the team would succeed in the coming games.

"It is obviously hard when someone is such a big part of your life is gone," Friend said. "But when things are hard, you just keep working and you don't give up. You just get tough and respond."

Furstenburg said, "We took a day to take it all in and now we are back on track working hard on accomplishing our goals for the season."

To help accomplish these team goals, the captains sought out their teammates to bring the team together. Placing importance on being together will bring the team closer, Furstenburg said.

"It's the 26 of us," Friend said. "We've been through a lot, and this is probably one of the biggest things we've ever gone through, and we need to rely on each other."

Furstenberg agreed, saying that team bonding had helped pump up he team for the rest of the season.

Friend and Furstenburg also said Murphy helped prepare the team to dominate in the A-10 this season, despite losses to nationally ranked programs.

"Coach Murphy gave us the tools to be successful," Furstenburg said.

The captains have faith in Albright and Nuzzi to lead the team to victory. The players see how Albright and Nuzzi work together in practice and in games and said they balanced each other well.

"Nuzzi calls all of the game shots," Furstenburg said. "[Albright] is the first to say he knows nothing about lacrosse."

Friend said: "He does more of the overseeing and managerial tasks while Nuzzi is our gametime coach because she is very knowledgeable and prepares us for the games. His many years of experience as a head coach definitely help out Nuzzi, but she definitely knows more about lacrosse."

Both players stressed the importance of succeeding in the A-10 because a conference championship win is an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament for postseason play. If they make it to the NCAAs, then the chances that they will face some of the opponents they already have played are high.

"There are often a lot of teams that we played out-of-conference in the beginning of the season that make it to the NCAA tournament," Friend said. "Since we played them before, it gives us an idea of how we can counter their attack and beat them.

"The conference is most important to us. We know what needs to be done to win and get another A-10 title for the university."

Spider lacrosse returns to First Market Stadium this weekend with conference play on Friday against St. Bonaventure University and Sunday versus Duquesne University.

"We're still working hard and going hard every day and doing everything we can so that our season turns out the way we want it to," Furstenberg said. "Nothing in the past is going to affect our future."

Contact staff writer Amelia Vogler at amelia.vogler@richmond.edu