The Richmond women’s lacrosse team suffered a blowout loss to nationally No. 6 Maryland on Tuesday night after rolling out three straight wins to get back to .500.
The 18-9 loss puts the Spiders at 3-4 on the season and the bottom of the A-10 standings.
Blowout losses have been an unfortunate trend for Richmond this year as their four losses have been by an average of seven points. Meanwhile, the team’s three wins have been by an average of three goals, with the closest match being decided by just one goal. With the A-10 championship game being held on their home turf in April, the Spiders hope to turn things around and get a chance to compete.
Richmond has relied heavily on Mary Flowers and Sam Stevenson this season. Each had three goals in the loss to the Terrapins and the pair has been instrumental to the squad’s offense. Their quest for a third straight appearance in the A-10 championship begins on St. Patrick’s Day this Saturday when they travel to play Towson (4-2).
Win streak snapped
La Salle has taken advantage of a slow schedule in 2012 and has jumped out to a 4-2 record. Its opponents have a combined record of 18-21 and that’s a big part of why the Explorers have started so well.
Following four straight wins, La Salle was tied with Drexel (5-2 ) with just over fourteen minutes to play before the Dragons scored the final three goals for a 10-7 victory. The Explorers had let a 5-2 lead slip from their grasp and now stand a half game behind Temple (5-2) for second place in the A-10.
La Salle resumes play this Saturday against Binghamton after a week off. Kelly Furman received A-10 Rookie of the Week honors at the start of the month. Furman tallied two goals and two assists during the week, leading her school to wins over Howard and Delaware.
Temple looks to rebound
The Owls missed a golden opportunity to move one game behind first place Massachusetts in the A-10 standings losing 20-3 to No. 5 Florida. The Gators have topped 20 points thrice so far this year and average 16 points-per-game. The loss drops Temple to 5-2 and fourth place in the A-10.
The Owls have also had a week off and resume play this Saturday against Delaware. Winning their next two games will be crucial because the subsequent seven games are against A-10 teams.
The A-10 is up for the grabs at the moment, and after having to sit by the sidelines and not be able to compete on their home turf in the championship last year, the Owls are attempting to get back to the championship game this season. Head coach Kim Ciarrocca, who led Temple to the Final Four in 1997, wants to bring the Owls back to their glory days of three national championships.
Brendan Tuma can be reached at [email protected].
