The University of Richmond women’s lacrosse team defeated Duquesne 21-6 on Apr. 25 at Rooney Field, securing the program’s first outright regular-season championship since its founding in 1983. The victory also marked a milestone for Juliana Stanley, who reached her 100th career goal.
This result concludes Richmond’s regular season with a record of 13-3 overall and an undefeated 9-0 mark in Atlantic 10 play, earning them the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Atlantic 10 Championship Tournament. Duquesne ended its season at 2-13 overall and went 1-8 in conference games.
Head coach Anne Harrington said, “Thank you to Duquesne for hosting us and congrats to them on a good season. I’m so proud of this team and what we’ve been able to accomplish so far this year. They’ve bought in, supported each other and chopped wood every day. Each person on this team has played an important role helping us earn this regular season title. It’s a great day to be a Spider. We are grateful for more time together as a team in the coming week and tomorrow we get back to work.”
Thirteen different Richmond players recorded points during the game. Alexis Morton led with six goals and four assists for ten points, while Bridget Lonsinger added three goals and two assists for five points. Stanley contributed three goals along with one assist; Meghan Rode scored once with two assists; Anya Wardle provided two assists; eight other Spiders each scored once.
Rode also led all players by winning sixteen draw controls out of Richmond’s total twenty-three draws won during the match.
Goalkeeper Abby Francioli earned the win by making four saves in thirty minutes of playtime, while Maggie Mullen had two saves over fifteen minutes and Ally Gouveia made four saves across another fifteen-minute stretch.
After trading early goals, Richmond took control by scoring eleven times in the first quarter alone to lead twelve-one after one period. The Spiders extended their advantage through consistent scoring across all quarters before closing out their historic win.
Richmond will return to action Friday, May 1 at Davidson College Stadium for the semifinals of the Atlantic 10 Championship.
