The University of Richmond men’s lacrosse team will host its first-ever NCAA Tournament game at Robins Stadium, welcoming Duke on Saturday, May 9 at 7:30 p.m., according to a May 3 announcement. The match will be broadcast on ESPNU.
This event is significant as it marks the Spiders’ debut as an NCAA Tournament host and their first time being seeded in the tournament. Richmond secured its seventh NCAA Tournament appearance by winning the Atlantic 10’s automatic bid after defeating Saint Joseph’s 8–6 in the conference championship. This victory also gave the program its third Atlantic 10 title in four years and marked their first back-to-back conference championships since the 2022–23 season.
Richmond enters the tournament with a strong record of 14–1, having won 23 of their last 25 games and achieving a program-best RPI ranking of three. Earlier this year, they reached their highest national ranking at No.1 following wins over Virginia, Cornell, and Georgetown—all fellow tournament teams. The Spiders have demonstrated high offensive production, leading nationally in scoring offense (16 goals per game), scoring margin (+7.79), shot percentage (35.1%), and winning percentage (.929). They are also second in points per game (25) and third in assists per game (9).
Defensively, Richmond ranks third nationwide by allowing only 8.21 goals per game. The team is eighth in ground balls per game (35.36), fourth in clearing percentage (.912), and fifth in caused turnovers per game (10.57). Duke arrives with a record of nine wins and four losses overall, including one win out of four games played within the Atlantic Coast Conference this season.
The two teams have faced each other ten times before; most recently, Duke narrowly defeated Richmond at Robins Stadium with a score of 13-12 during their last meeting in 2025.
First round matches for May 9/10 will take place at campus sites hosted by higher-seeded teams while quarterfinals are set for Hofstra and Delaware on May 16–17. The winner between Richmond and Duke will move forward to play either No.5-seed Virginia or Georgetown on Sunday, May 17 at Delaware.
NCAA semifinals are scheduled for May 23 followed by the championship match on May 25—both held at Scott Stadium at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.
Ticket details for Saturday’s matchup will be released Monday morning through RichmondSpiders.com as well as official Spiders social media channels.
