WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (March 6, 2019)—The William & Mary lacrosse team fell to Richmond, 12-9, in a hard-fought contest played in near-freezing temperatures at Martin Family Stadium at Albert-Daly Field on Wednesday evening.
 
Although W&M (2-3) owned a 5-4 lead early in the second half, UR (4-1) utilized a 7-1 run to pull ahead 11-6 with less than 10 minutes remaining.
 
While the Tribe rattled off three unanswered goals, which included a pair of free position scores by junior Meredith Hughes, to narrow the margin to just two, 11-9, with 5:15 left, W&M was unable to get any closer the rest of the way.
 
Tribe Standouts
Hughes and freshman Lauren Russell led W&M with three goals apiece, while senior Hannah Ryan, freshman Belle Martire and freshman Grace Ahonen all found the back of the cage once. Martire also came up big on the draw circle with four draw controls.
 
Freshman Starr Howard continued her stellar play to open her rookie campaign with a game-high five caused turnovers to go with four draw controls and three ground balls.
 
Junior goalie Elsa Rall totaled a season-high 12 saves and posted a .500 save percentage.  
 
Inside the Numbers
Although W&M dominated the draws, 15-8, the Spiders outshot the Tribe, 33-26, which included a 21-13 advantage in the second half, and committed three fewer turnovers (16-19).
 
W&M converted on six of its 11 free position attempts, while UR was just 2-of-11 on its 8-meter attempts.
 
Both teams finished the contest with 16 ground balls apiece.
 
The Opposition
Mia Castagnero totaled a team-high three goals, while Marissa Brown recorded five points (1g, 4a).
 
Julie Ball tallied a team-best five draw controls with three ground balls and three caused turnovers, while goalie Megan Gianforte posted 11 saves.
 
Notes
Hughes' three goals represented her second hat trick of the season after totaling three goals in the win at ODU … Despite the setback, W&M controls the all-time series against Richmond, 44-10-1 and is 72-23-1 all-time against teams currently in the Atlantic 10 … The contest marked the fourth time in W&M's first five games that it has squared off against a team from the Commonwealth of Virginia … W&M's upcoming slate includes five consecutive road games, which includes its final four non-conference matchups.
 
Up Next
The Tribe will return to action when it plays at Longwood on Saturday at 1 p.m.