In a tale of two halves, the No. 13 Massachusetts women’s lacrosse team fell in the Atlantic 10 conference championship game to No. 22 Richmond.

The Minutewomen (16-2, 9-0 Atlantic 10) faced an opponent in Richmond (16-3, 8-1 A-10) that gave UMass everything it could handle. Led by Lindsey Frank with six goals, the Spiders punched their ticket to the NCAA tournament with a commanding 20-13 win.

From the ball drop, the Spiders took the Minutewomen’s game plan, and shoved it right back at them. With early pressure on the defense, Richmond jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in less than five minutes. The Minutewomen responded, scoring four goals and finishing the first period down 5-4.

Ensuing in the second period was a brawl of elite goal scoring from both sides, each team trading goals. Alex Finn, Kylee Bowen, and Charlotte Wilmoth led the way for UMass, each with a pair of goals. On the other side, Colleen Quinn had a halftime hat trick, as the Spiders went into the locker room scoring two goals in less than thirty seconds, taking the 9-8 edge.

Coming out of halftime, Richmond continued its offense aspirations, but leveled up defensively.

Between the three-minute mark of the third period, and over eight minute mark of the fourth, the Spiders scored six unanswered goals. The Minutewomen’s decision to change goalie Gina Carroll with Catrina Tobin is a common theme as coach Jana Drummond had rotated goalies at halftime during every game in the regular season. However, Drummond did not expect Tobin to struggle as she did. Allowing seven goals on seven shots in 15 minutes, the change that seemed normal was monumental. Carroll eventually subbed back in to start the fourth period, however the Spider lead had bloomed to 16-10 at that point.

Carroll finished the game giving up 13 goals on 18 total shots. On the other side, Richmond goalie Emilie Bloyer gave up 13 goals on 24 shots against, and played all 60 minutes.

In the end, UMass controlled ground balls and was neck and neck with Richmond as it caused turnovers and shots on goal. However, Richmond overpowered UMass in fouls in a 41-18 advantage for the Spiders. The sloppiness gave the Spiders many more free position opportunities, putting additional pressure on Carroll and Tobin.

The Minutewomen will now look to see their matchup in the NCAA tournament while Richmond punches its ticket with an automatic bid and an Atlantic 10 championship crown for the first time since 2019.

Mehrob Fatemi can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @MehrobFatemi