The Collegian
Friday, March 29, 2024

Richmond men's lacrosse wins first home game

The wait for a home victory is finally over: University of Richmond men's lacrosse beat Wagner College 14-7.

The Spiders (2-7) beat Vermont 12-11 in Durham, N.C., but were 0-3 at Robins Stadium going into Friday night's game.

Richmond head coach Dan Chemotti said getting a win at home wass something the team had been talking about.

"To be able to get that win and put that behind us and focus on getting better as a team was important," he said.

Despite committing an early penalty, Richmond opened the scoring when Brad Burnam found a wide-open Dan Ginestro on the crease for the easy finish.

Unlike Wagner (2-5), Richmond capitalized on its initial man-up opportunity, and Mitch Goldberg added to his team-leading goals as the Spiders opened up a 3-0 lead fewer than six minutes in.

Wagner cut the Spiders' lead to two, but Goldberg capped off Richmond's first-quarter scoring when he juked a defender and finished his shot in close.

"Being able to have some success early certainly will allow our guys to play with confidence," Chemotti said. "That was really important for sure."

Burnam assisted Ginestro twice more for the Spiders' first goals of the second quarter.

"I was getting open and [Burnam] was finding me," Ginestro said. "He had some great looks to me, and I just finished them."

J.P. Forester capped off one of Richmond's most dominating halves of the season with a long shot with fewer than 10 seconds left, and the Spiders took a 7-1 lead into the half. Richmond outshot Wagner 20-6 in the first half, and held Wagner scoreless in the second quarter - the first time in program history the Spiders held an opponent scoreless for a quarter.

The defense was awesome, Ginestro said.

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"They owned the ground ball game I thought," he said, "and that definitely led to the offense."

The Spiders showed no signs of slowing down to start the second half, as Jean-Lu Chetner finished an unassisted goal 18 seconds in.

Wagner broke up the Spiders' five-goal run, but Burnam picked up his fourth assist when he found a cutting Chetner midway through the third quarter.

The Spiders scored two late third-quarter goals, and took an 11-2 lead into the fourth quarter.

Despite a high-scoring final quarter, the result was never in doubt.

The Spiders were excited to see some of the backups get time in the fourth quarter, Ginestro said.

"We were just kind of hootin' and hollerin," Ginestro said. "We were glad about the win."

The Spiders have a week off before they travel to Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., to face No. 15 Bryant University.

"I think every time the ball goes in the net, it gives our guys a new level of confidence," Chemotti said.

Contact staff writer Jack Nicholson at jack.nicholson@richmond.edu

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