SoCon MLAX tourney 5/2 & 5/4 ESPN+
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SoCon Men’s Lacrosse Championship
(Vert Stadium; High Point, N.C.)
May 2 (Thursday)
No. 1 High Point vs. No. 4 Jacksonville, 5:30 p.m. ESPN+
No. 2 Air Force vs. No. 3 Richmond, 8 p.m. ESPN+
May 4 (Saturday)
Championship game, 12 p.m. ESPN+
(Vert Stadium; High Point, N.C.)
May 2 (Thursday)
No. 1 High Point vs. No. 4 Jacksonville, 5:30 p.m. ESPN+
No. 2 Air Force vs. No. 3 Richmond, 8 p.m. ESPN+
May 4 (Saturday)
Championship game, 12 p.m. ESPN+
Haven't gotten many face-offs all season, so don't expect that to change tonight. Can only hope recruit who's touted as face off specialist coming next season is the answer. Amazing what we've accomplished in past seasons and this year with that huge hole in our game.
AFA took cheap shots all night.We were the most physical in this game among all games this season.
Rusbult’s 12 saves was BIG.Difference maker.
https://highpointpanthers.com/sidearmstats/mlax/media
Rusbult’s 12 saves was BIG.Difference maker.
https://highpointpanthers.com/sidearmstats/mlax/media
RTD JOC 5/2
Spiders advance to sixth straight league title game with 7-6 win over Falcons in SoCon semis
Third-seeded Richmond meets top-seeded High Point at High Point Saturday in the SoCon championship game. UR ATHLETICS
Much easier trip. Neutral site. Different result.
The University of Richmond bounced back from a decisive loss at Air Force on April 13 to end the Falcons' season Thursday night in the semifinals of the Southern Conference men's lacrosse tournament in High Point, N.C.
The third-seeded Spiders (9-6) and Air Force were involved in a low-scoring, back-and-forth game before UR put away the second-seeded Falcons (10-5) with two late goals, advancing to Saturday's noon championship game against top-seeded High Point (13-2). The winner earns the league's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
Richmond, which won the 2018 SoCon title, will play in its conference championship game for the sixth time in six years as a Division I program (one in the Atlantic Sun, five in the SoCon). High Point defeated the Spiders 15-14, scoring a goal with 6.4 seconds left, last Saturday at High Point in the final regular-season game for both teams.
In Thursday’s first semifinal, High Point eliminated No. 4 Jacksonville 17-3.
Richmond fell 14-7 at Air Force when the teams played in Colorado Springs, Colo., in their mid-April meeting. The rematch assumed a much different form. UR and Air Force were tied 3-3 at halftime and 5-5 heading into the fourth quarter.
The Falcons took a 6-5 lead early in the fourth quarter. UR’s Ryan Lee tied it 6-6 with 5:52 left, and Tate Gallagher gave the Spiders a 7-6 edge (Teddy Hatfield assist) with 3:20 remaining. A shot by Air Force’s Trey Lervick hit the post with a minute left, and the Falcons turned it over on their final possession.
Ryan Lanchbury, Hatfield and Gallagher each scored twice for UR.
“When you’re going up against teams like Air Force, it’s just like going up against teams like Maryland and Duke and Virginia and Notre Dame,” UR coach Dan Chemotti said Monday as the Spiders prepared for the Falcons. “They’ve got big, athletic players on both ends of the field and at the face-off dot.”
He would know. Richmond this year played Maryland (10-9 loss), Notre Dame (9-8 win), Duke (11-7, loss) and Virginia (16-7 loss).
The Spiders are the only SoCon team that qualified for all five of the league’s tournaments. The top four teams among eight conference members annually move on to the SoCon tournament.
High Point (13-2), ranked No. 11, features the two-time SoCon offensive player of the year, sophomore Asher Nolting. Among Division I teams, the Panthers completed the regular season fourth in scoring (14.9 gpg).
Spiders advance to sixth straight league title game with 7-6 win over Falcons in SoCon semis
Third-seeded Richmond meets top-seeded High Point at High Point Saturday in the SoCon championship game. UR ATHLETICS
Much easier trip. Neutral site. Different result.
The University of Richmond bounced back from a decisive loss at Air Force on April 13 to end the Falcons' season Thursday night in the semifinals of the Southern Conference men's lacrosse tournament in High Point, N.C.
The third-seeded Spiders (9-6) and Air Force were involved in a low-scoring, back-and-forth game before UR put away the second-seeded Falcons (10-5) with two late goals, advancing to Saturday's noon championship game against top-seeded High Point (13-2). The winner earns the league's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
Richmond, which won the 2018 SoCon title, will play in its conference championship game for the sixth time in six years as a Division I program (one in the Atlantic Sun, five in the SoCon). High Point defeated the Spiders 15-14, scoring a goal with 6.4 seconds left, last Saturday at High Point in the final regular-season game for both teams.
In Thursday’s first semifinal, High Point eliminated No. 4 Jacksonville 17-3.
Richmond fell 14-7 at Air Force when the teams played in Colorado Springs, Colo., in their mid-April meeting. The rematch assumed a much different form. UR and Air Force were tied 3-3 at halftime and 5-5 heading into the fourth quarter.
The Falcons took a 6-5 lead early in the fourth quarter. UR’s Ryan Lee tied it 6-6 with 5:52 left, and Tate Gallagher gave the Spiders a 7-6 edge (Teddy Hatfield assist) with 3:20 remaining. A shot by Air Force’s Trey Lervick hit the post with a minute left, and the Falcons turned it over on their final possession.
Ryan Lanchbury, Hatfield and Gallagher each scored twice for UR.
“When you’re going up against teams like Air Force, it’s just like going up against teams like Maryland and Duke and Virginia and Notre Dame,” UR coach Dan Chemotti said Monday as the Spiders prepared for the Falcons. “They’ve got big, athletic players on both ends of the field and at the face-off dot.”
He would know. Richmond this year played Maryland (10-9 loss), Notre Dame (9-8 win), Duke (11-7, loss) and Virginia (16-7 loss).
The Spiders are the only SoCon team that qualified for all five of the league’s tournaments. The top four teams among eight conference members annually move on to the SoCon tournament.
High Point (13-2), ranked No. 11, features the two-time SoCon offensive player of the year, sophomore Asher Nolting. Among Division I teams, the Panthers completed the regular season fourth in scoring (14.9 gpg).
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AF has played this way against us in every game I've seen. Glad we don't have to revert to this in order to win. Way to go Spiders!
He’s a junior next year.PG’d at USAFA Prep School.We’ll see him at Robins during regular season.#45 cross checked from behind the net and then #44 roughed Gallagher who had the last UR possession.Neither he nor Lanchbury will forget #44 when we next meet.
https://goairforcefalcons.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=7837
With Collegiate graduate Jack Rusbuldt in goal, Spiders want to complete SoCon 'revenge tour'
JOHN O'CONNOR·33 minutes ago
As a lacrosse goalie, Jack Rusbuldt benefited from an advantageous family connection: an older brother who played attack.
Chris Rusbuldt has a few years on Jack, a University of Richmond redshirt sophomore from Collegiate who will try to maintain order Saturday in the noon Southern Conference championship game against High Point at the Panthers' Vert Stadium.
Chris Rusbuldt, who played at Washington and Lee 2013-16, launched many a practice shot with Jack in goal.
"Especially in those middle-school years, when I was kind of just starting to play [goalie], it was nice to have my brother and his friends because they made me grow up a little bit more in the goal," Rusbuldt said Friday. "They definitely were shooting on me, probably just for them to have fun and just stick me in there, not really worrying about what happens to me.
"It definitely helped me out."
As a Collegiate student, Rusbuldt liked the idea of attending a major university distinguished by athletics. He spent a year at Penn State, which is ranked No. 1, redshirting before his shift to UR.
"I always thought I wanted to branch out, get a little farther away," said Rusbuldt. "What kind of drove me to Richmond was not only the coaching staff, but also the school's atmosphere. ... When I'm at school, I don't feel like I'm 10 minutes away from my house."
The third-seeded Spiders (9-6), defending SoCon champions, reached the championship game with defense, eliminating second-seeded Air Force 7-6 Thursday night behind 12 saves from Rusbuldt. They'll look to repeat that formula Saturday against a top-seeded High Point team that's 13-2, ranked No. 11, and led by one of the nation's top offensive forces.
Panthers sophomore Asher Nolting, the two-time SoCon offensive player of the year, ranks fifth among Division I players in points, with 87 (43 goals, 44 assists).
"Not only does he have the lacrosse talent, but he also has the body and athleticism behind it," said Rusbuldt. "He's obviously a lot to handle, but then again, we have some great players on the defensive end. We think we'll be OK and keep him in check, hopefully.
"All the work you've done all season is for these moments."
The Spiders played their final regular-season game at High Point last Saturday, losing 15-14 on a goal by Nolting with 6.4 seconds left.
"We can both go up and down, but we can also play good defense," said Rusbuldt. "I don't think 15-14 really showed the defensive talent that there is on both sides. We had some lapses on defense that we're definitely going to clean up."
The Panthers will challenge Rusbuldt with several other capable shooters. Eleven High Point players scored Thursday in a 17-3 semifinal win over fourth-seeded Jacksonville. In the Spiders' semifinal, they scored twice in the final six minutes to defeat Air Force by one. High Point and Air Force were the only SoCon opponents to beat Richmond during the regular season.
"We call this a little bit of a revenge tour," said Rusbuldt. "We took out Air Force [Thursday] and we have our job set for [Saturday]. We've got to get that done as well."
Go Rusbuldt and Spiders.................Thanks Chris for launching all those shots at Jack......................
So far so good. Looking like weve made some improvement and adjustments from defense last week. Making them earn every ground ball. The only goal HPU has is off a pass that deflected in. 4-1.
Defense wins championships. A well prepared and coached team. Go Spiders.
Shutting down Nolting,SoCon Offense POY was Key.He’s big but slow.We doubled him at every opportunity on the wing so he couldn’t turn.Nice.Our quickness and heady play got the W.Against AFA and HPU we rode to midfield and played aggressive D,more so than at any time of the regular season.Rusbult had another terrific game with 14 saves.
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