Richmond defeats West Chester, stays perfect in A-10

The University of Richmond field hockey team remained undefeated in conference play by defeating West Chester University 2-0 Sunday afternoon during its final home game of the season.

Behind goals from redshirt junior Dani Pycroft and sophomore Katelin Peterson, the Spiders improved to 3-0 in Atlantic-10 conference play and shut out an opponent for the sixth time this season. The Spiders went into today's game against West Chester hoping to prevent the Golden Rams from scoring, coach Gina Lucido said.

Richmond players had 15 shots against West Chester, while West Chester had two shots against Richmond senior Jacki Raithel. After Raithel made a diving save during the first half, the Spiders drove into West Chester territory and Pycroft scored her ninth goal at the 12:34 mark.

The Spiders led 1-0 at halftime, until Peterson scored her 10th goal of the season just after halftime at the 48:56 mark.

Richmond's victory came on Senior Day, and Lucido credited the group of seniors that had taken the program to a higher level this season. The game marked the final home appearance for seniors Raithel, Sarah Blythe-Wood, Megan Thompson, Adrian Pickar, Becky White and Jess Weidner.

"We have a special team with incredible parents and that is what helped us come out and win today," said Pycroft, who still has one one year of eligibility remaining and whose parents watched from the stands.

The Spiders hope to carry their momentum forward from today's win.

"We had some shots on goal which should have gone in today and there are definitely lots of things that we need to tweak this week as we make our final climb to the [A-10] tournament," Pycroft said.

The Spiders will take their 8-7 overall record into a final non-conference matchup against Virginia Commonwealth University at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Contact staff writer Jimmy Young at jimmy.young@richmond.edu