WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The William & Mary lacrosse team led No. 18/19 Richmond in the second half but was edged by the Spiders, 14-11, in its home opener at Busch Turf on Saturday afternoon.
While UR (2-1) jumped out to a 5-2 lead midway through the opening stanza, W&M (1-2) held the Spiders scoreless for a span of nearly 20 minutes to take a one-goal advantage with 24:57 remaining after a free position goal by
Belle Martire.
Although the score was knotted at 8-8 following a goal by
Kathleen Cozzi with 12:35 left, Richmond utilized a pivotal 4-0 run to pull ahead for good.
W&M narrowed the gap to two, 13-11, with 1:56 remaining after Cozzi and
Sophie Kopec found the back of the cage but was unable to get any closer down the stretch.
Tribe Standouts
Cozzi led the Tribe with three points (2g, 1a), while Martire,
Sarah Cipolla and
Anne Milwicz recorded two goals apiece. Cipolla also added four draw controls and four ground balls.
Sabrina Schrader also came up big with two points (1g, 1a) and a game-high six draw controls.
Defensively,
Starr Howard and
Courtney Vasquenza both totaled three caused turnovers and two ground balls apiece, while Howard also posted three draw controls.
Goalie
Elsa Rall recorded a number of big stops in the cage and finished with a game-high 12 saves.
Inside the Numbers
Indicative of a closely contested matchup, a number of the team stats were separated by narrow margins.
UR outshot W&M, 29-24, and held a narrow edge in ground balls (16-14).
Both teams tallied 14 draw controls, while the Tribe owned a 12-5 advantage in the second half.
The Opposition
Lindsey Frank led Richmond with five goals and four draw controls, while Madison Ostrick registered a hat trick.
Notes
Despite the setback, W&M leads the all-time series versus UR, 44-13-1, and is 75-26-1 all-time against teams currently in the Atlantic 10 …
Starr Howard jumped up two spots in W&M's career draw controls list and now ranks eighth with 96.
Up Next
W&M will return to action when it plays at Longwood next Saturday at 2 p.m.
