Most people would have a tough time arguing the fact that the Richmond Spiders have had a stranglehold over the Atlantic 10 field hockey conference and the Massachusetts field hockey team the past five seasons.
Most people, that is, except for senior forward Gina Sanders, who all but guaranteed victory over Richmond if the two teams meet in the Atlantic 10 Tournament.
“I honestly don’t even think they’re that good,” Sanders said about the reigning A-10 champs after Sunday’s 5-2 loss, which saw the Minutewomen get outshot 30-8. Richmond also had nine of the 10 penalty corners in yesterday’s game.
“The way teams lose to them is that they’re intimidated because they’re a ranked team,” Sanders said. “They don’t play that well.”
“Yeah, they connect passes and stuff, but they’re such a one-on-one team that it’s amazing how frustrating it is to lose to them and just how many goals they’ve scored this season just off of penalty corners,” Sanders added. “We had some really good attacks against them, they were really stunned.”
Sanders is one of only two seniors on the Minutewomen squad, and has witnessed firsthand Richmond’s dominance over UMass during her four years. Sanders and the Minutewomen have lost their last eight games to the A-10 powerhouse. In those eight games, UMass has been outscored 34-6, and has not scored more than one goal in any of those contests.
Sanders may not be fazed by the Richmond mystique or the fact that Richmond is the only nationally ranked team in the A-10, but the Spiders have posted some remarkable numbers this year and throughout their four year-reign as A-10 champions.
The Spiders currently boast a 37-game unbeaten streak against A-10 foes after defeating the Minutewomen on Sunday. The streak dates back to November 2001, when the Spiders went down to the Minutewomen 2-1 in the semifinals of the A-10 tournament.
Since then, UMass has dropped every game to the Spiders, and has bowed out to Richmond in three of the last four A-10 championship games, most recently in last year’s 7-1 lopsided defeat.
Despite returning only eight players this season that have been part of those A-10 titles, the Spiders have out-scored their three A-10 opponents, La Salle, West Chester and, most recently, Rhode Island, 18-0. Richmond has held its first three A-10 opponents to just 11 shots.
Richmond leads the league in every offensive category, including number of points scored, assists and goals. The St. Joseph’s Hawks are in second, trailing by 28 goals.
In fact, Richmond had not allowed a goal in its last five games, totaling 390:77 minutes of keeping its opponents off the scoreboard, until allowing two to UMass Sunday.
UMass coach Patty Shea, along with her outspoken captain, does see some weaknesses in their rival despite those numbers.
“Part of the mystique they have is when they step on the field they know they’re going to win,” Shea said. “Part of the fight for opponents is when you step on the field you have to know you can compete with them and you’re on the same par as them and that’s part of the mystique that they have.
“I think they [Richmond] know how closer teams are to them and that they can compete with them on the field,” she said. “The score of the game doesn’t really indicate how hard and actually how well the group played.”
“They score a majority of their goals off the penalty corner and they score off the rebounds,” Shea added. “When we make the initial save we have to do a better job of cleaning up the rebounds.”
After the game, Shea added that the best thing the Minutewomen can do is look ahead of them, and not behind.
“It’s easy to move forward after a game like this,” Shea said. “We’re right where we need to be and I’m really comfortable going into next weekend.”