MLAX(8-5,5-1) v Mercer( 1-11,1-5) W 15-9 ESPN+ Replay
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Coach was extremely benevolent by calling off the hounds during the 3Q.Score was 14-2 at end 3Q.Many seniors got a lot of playing time and all rostered players.
Pics:
https://spiderathletics.exposure.co/mens-lacrosse-vs-mercer-senior-day
Pics:
https://spiderathletics.exposure.co/mens-lacrosse-vs-mercer-senior-day
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Spiders tame Bears on senior day, lock up spot in four-team SoCon men's lacrosse tourney
JOHN O'CONNOR·1 hour ago
Seniors should have last laughs on senior day, and so it was with University of Richmond attack Ryan Lee.
Mercer knocked down Lee just outside the crease, but Lee's forced descent occurred as he scored. Face-first on the ground, Lee held his stick in one hand and celebrated with the other by pounding the artificial surface three times.
At Robins Stadium on Saturday, Lee's goal was part of Richmond's 6-0 acceleration against an overmatched Southern Conference opponent. UR led 8-1 at the conclusion of the first quarter and 14-1 midway through the third quarter on the way to a 15-9 victory.
"We came off a tough loss last weekend," said senior attack Teddy Hatfield (four goals, three assists), referring to a 14-7 setback at Air Force. "We knew we needed to get back in the win column. We came out hard and every position on the field impacted the game."
Richmond's season high for goals this season is 17. UR did that twice and probably could have surpassed that with ease Saturday, if so inclined. Coach Dan Chemotti got his younger players experience through the fourth quarter, which began with Richmond leading 14-2.
Heading into the final week of the regular season, the Spiders (8-5, 5-1 SoCon) secured a spot in the four-team league tournament.
"Head-coach paranoia. You go through all the scenarios. You're telling the team, 'No guarantee,'" Chemotti said. "So now that it's a guarantee that we're in it, that takes a lot of pressure off."
The Bears (1-11, 1-5 SoCon) traveled back to Macon, Ga., having not changed their status as one of Division I's leakiest defensive teams.
History suggests that if May is near, Richmond is playing well. This is the program's sixth year and in each of the previous five seasons, the Spiders advanced to the championship game of their conference tournament.
"Maybe it's the warm weather," said Lee, a resident of South Salem, N.Y. "We always seem to rally around each other at the end of the year."
UR has twice won league titles (Atlantic Sun in 2014, SoCon in 2018) and in so doing, qualified for the NCAA tournament. Late-season success has come, in Chemotti's estimation, because "we try and keep things really simple, try not to burn these guys out too early. We really try and figure out when's the right time to push them and when's the right time to pull back.
"Our guys, they know what's at stake here later in the season, so the focus dials up a little bit."
The SoCon tournament was held at Robins Stadium the past four years. This season it shifts to High Point, on May 2 and 4. The Spiders, the league's preseason favorites, will be making back-to-back trips to the Panthers' facility. That's where UR closes its regular season Saturday.
"We've just got to focus on us," Chemotti said. "We can't focus too much on who we're playing or where we're playing."
Richmond's quirky schedule included a six-game homestand Feb. 19-March 16, followed by four consecutive road games that led into the senior day win over Mercer.
That was fun.
Playing all your seniors on Senior Day? What's that about?
Playing all your seniors on Senior Day? What's that about?
