The Collegian
Thursday, March 28, 2024

Weekly Spider Sports Recap

Football

Inconsistent defense and poor special teams coverage cost Richmond a loss in its first game of the season against the University of Maryland at College Park.

Return specialist William Likely torched the Spiders for 296 total return yards, more than the Spiders’ offense had all day, and a touchdown. Richmond punter D.J. Helkowski failed to keep the ball away from Likely all game and he made the Spiders pay every time, setting up his team in excellent field position. From there, the Richmond defense could not do much to keep the Terrapins’ offense out of the end zone, losing 50-21.

New quarterback Kyle Lauletta played fairly well, completing 18 of 30 passes for 220 yards and scoring a rushing touchdown. The Spiders were down just eight points at the half, but failed to contain Likely throughout the second half and let the game get out of hand. The Spiders will look to bounce back next Saturday against Hampton in another away game.

Field Hockey

The Spiders lost their first game of the season to No. 17 Iowa at James Madison University in a non-conference contest.

Junior Kelly Quinn scored her second goal of the season on an assist by senior Amy Cooke to tie the game at one just minutes into the game. It would be Richmond’s only goal as the team allowed Iowa to score two more in the first half and another two in the second half to beat the Spiders 5-1. Iowa’s Mallory Lefkowitz showed off her deft playmaking ability, tallying four assists, and Makenna Grewe and Stephanie Norlander each chipped in two goals for the Hawkeyes, who outshot the Spiders 17-11.

The game was delayed by lightning for almost two hours before the last ten minutes were played out. The Spiders (2-1) travel to Lynchburg, Virginia, to take on non-conference rival Liberty on Tuesday.

Soccer

The Spiders shut out American University at Robins Stadium to improve to 2-2 in the early season.

Senior Ashley Riefner and sophomore Lindsey Williams each scored for Richmond and freshman goalie Jessica Stanfill posted a shutout in her first collegiate game. The Spiders outshot the Eagles 23-7, including an 8-3 advantage in shots on goal. Richmond also dominated corners, winning nine throughout the game compared to just three for American.

Richmond can surpass the .500 mark with a win in its next game, an away contest against UNC Wilmington on Friday.

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Cross Country

Richmond Cross Country performed well on Saturday at the Spider Alumni Open in Mechanicsville with the women taking the top spot and the men placing second in the four-team meet.

The women’s team had its five scoring runners in the top seven spots, totaling a score of 21, almost half of second-place Davidson’s 39 points. Sophomore Courtney Thompson beat out Davidson’s Caroline Yarbrough on her way to first place in the race with teammates Kaelyn Heinicke and Marisa Ruskan not far behind in third and fourth places respectively.

On the men’s side, senior Tim Gruber was the top performer, placing second overall and leading the Spiders to second place behind a dominant Davidson squad. Senior Matthew McKenna was the only other Richmond runner to crack the top ten.

The team takes a two-week rest before traveling to New York for the Iona College Meet of Champions on Sept. 19th.

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