Women’s Lacrosse takes care of business in A-10 semifinal

The University of Richmond women’s lacrosse team defeated Saint Joseph’s University 21-14 in the Atlantic 10 tournament semifinals at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Cary St. Field May 5. 

During the regular season, UR won 14 games and had a 7-1 conference record. Coming into the game, the Spiders had won five straight games. 

After defeating SJU in the regular season 15-9 on March 25, the Spiders wasted no time in establishing themselves offensively in the first quarter of the two programs’ semifinals matchup. 

By the 13:21 mark of the first quarter, the Spiders had already scored four goals. And an additional four goals later, UR led the Hawks 8-0. The Hawks were able to score three goals of their own in the quarter, but through the first 15 minutes, the Spiders held control, leading 9-3.

SJU outscored UR in the second quarter, but such an offensive burst early on gave the Spiders a cushion heading into halftime. Through 30 minutes of gameplay, UR led SJU 14-9. 

Coming out of halftime, UR set the tone once again as senior attacker Arden Tierney, who was named the A-10 Offensive Player of the Year and made the All-Conference First Team, Attack, got the first draw control of the second half. The Spiders had 30 draw controls compared to the Hawks’ nine. 

UR scored the first two goals of the half, and while SJU answered with two of their own, the Spiders then scored three unanswered goals to finish out the quarter. 

Despite UR’s 18 turnovers in the game, the Spiders scored two more goals in quarter four and emerged victorious. After losing to SJU in the A-10 tournament the last two seasons, the Spiders got their revenge with the 21-14 victory. 

“Doesn’t really matter who we’re playing, we’re just gonna go out there, play our hardest ‘cause last season was not fun and I know for the upperclassmen, the season before that was not fun for them too, so we’re just going out there, ready to dominate from the start,” sophomore attacker Colleen Quinn, who made the All-Conference Second Team, Attack, said before the tournament.

Offensively, senior midfielder Sophia DiCenso,who made the All-Conference First Team, Midfield, led the way with six goals. Quinn scored four goals, and Tierney scored three to complement the load. 

With this win, the Spiders will have the chance to compete for an A-10 championship against the University of Massachusetts, whom the Spiders lost to 22-12 March 11. The game will take place at Cary St. Field at 12 p.m. May 7. 

“It’s focusing on a game, playing our game, yes worried about the opponent in a way, but not based on how we’ve already seen them,” senior goalie Emilie Bloyer said before the tournament. “It’s focusing on our game, playing our game no matter who steps out on that field against us.” 

Contact sports editor Jimmy James at jimmy.james@richmond.edu.