The Collegian
Thursday, March 28, 2024

Richmond men's lacrosse beats Duke in historic upset

<p>No. 15&nbsp;A.J. Lapitino and the Spiders celebrate&nbsp;the most impressive victory in program history | Photo courtesy of Spider Athletics</p>

No. 15 A.J. Lapitino and the Spiders celebrate the most impressive victory in program history | Photo courtesy of Spider Athletics

Richmond’s men’s lacrosse team earned the program’s most impressive win in its three-year history Monday night, defeating No. 9 Duke 12-10 in Durham, North Carolina.

The Spiders scored the final four goals to shock the Blue Devils, who had not lost at home to an unranked team in seven years and had won three national championships since 2010.

“Quite simply, this is the biggest win in our program’s history,” said head coach Dan Chemotti, who was a captain for Duke in 2002.

Mitch Goldberg, who leads the Spiders with 14 goals, scored four goals and Alex Hatem added two.

Richmond’s defense forced the Blue Devils into 16 turnovers and goalie Benny Pugh stopped 12 shots, as the Spiders held Duke (4-3) to its second-lowest scoring output of the season.

Richmond trailed 10-9 heading into the fourth quarter, but Anthony Faraino, Teddy Hatfield and Cory Palmer tallied goals for the Spiders and Richmond’s defense held the Blue Devils scoreless in the final frame.

Richmond, which is off to a program-best 5-1 start, hosts Southern Conference foe Jacksonville March 12 before traveling back to Tobacco Road to play No. 10 North Carolina.

Contact editor-in-chief Jack Nicholson at jack.nicholson@richmond.edu

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