The Richmond Spiders used an 8-0 run spanning both halves to defeat the Massachusetts women's lacrosse team, 10-4, handing the Minutewomen their sixth loss in seven games in front of the hardy fans braving the less than desirable weather conditions at McGuirk Stadium Sunday.
It is the first time since UMass (5-8, 0-3 A-10) joined the A-10 in 1999 that the team lost its first three games in league play. The two-time defending A-10 Champions and pre-season conference favorite Spiders (9-5, 3-1 A-10) have now won the last five tilts with the Minutewomen dating back to the 2004 season by a combined score of 64-29.
Allison Furstenburg led all scorers Sunday with four goals while junior attacker Kathleen Typadis was responsible for half of UMass' offensive production on the day with her team-leading 35th and 36th goals of the year. Mandy Friend, who leads the A-10 in goals (43), had three helpers and contributed two goals in Richmond's winning effort.
UMass has now been held to under 10 goals in three of its last four games after the team had been averaging close to 12 goals a contest in its first six games. The lackluster four-goal performance marked the first time since the 2002 season that the team has scored less than five goals.
"We might just have to change some things up offensively and start moving the ball around better," UMass coach AlexisVenechanos said. "We're going to have re-examine everything after this game and see what we need to change up."
The Maroon and White must now win its four remaining contests to have any shot of advancing to the A-10 postseason in Philadelphia for the eighth time in the last nine seasons. That arduous task begins this Friday when the Minutewomen travel to Pittsburgh, Penn., to clash with the Duquesne Dukes. Game time is slated for 4 p.m.
"I'm confident that we'll be able to take it one game at a time," Venechanos said. "It's going to be crucial that we play a complete game at Duquesne. We haven't played a full game yet this season. Even in our wins, we haven't been able to play a full game yet."
"I definitely think so," Typadis said about the team's chances of reeling off four straight wins. "These teams we're going to play are good teams, but we're a good team too. I think that we work well under pressure."
A quick glance at the box score Sunday would have one believe UMass was on its way to its sixth victory of the year. But despite out shooting the Spiders 22-20, committing a season-low 12 turnovers, and collecting three more groundballs than the Spiders, the Minutewomen were once again done in by a lack of urgency after jumping out on top. Too many uncontested shots and wide open lanes to the net on the defensive end didn't help matters, either.
Typadis's two unassisted goals on the day put UMass ahead 2-0 in the first 10 minutes of regulation which saw the Minutewomen dominate possession and play a majority of the early minutes in Richmond's half of the field. After the quick start, however, the Minutewomen wouldn't find the back of the net for the next 22 minutes.
The Spiders erased the 2-0 deficit eight minutes later with back-to-back goals scored 40 seconds apart. Richmond went on to tally the next six goals, including the first four goals of the second half until freshman attacker Stephanie Hopkins stopped the bleeding with her eighth goal of the season. She scored off of a free position shot with just under 17 minutes remaining in the second half.
Junior attacker Melynda Zwick capped off a revitalized UMass attack in the last 10 minutes with the team's final goal at the 2:58 mark. In their last two games, the Minutewomen have been outscored 11-3 in the second half.
"We talk about playing with a sense of urgency and now our backs are up against the wall. When we're up 2-0 we have to play with a sense of urgency then not when we're down 4-2 or 8-2," Venechanos said.
The coach was at a loss to why her team seemingly continues to lay back after jumping out to early leads and not playing a full 60 minutes.
"I don't know what it is that we have to do," she said. "We may have to get pissed or something - I don't know. I'm trying to find out myself why we don't play with a sense of urgency. Every game is precious and we talk about the moment and that's what it all comes down to."
Typadis concurred with her coach's sentiments.
"I think we just got a little too comfortable with our lead and we lost some urgency," she said. "When we're up we just have to learn to keep pushing and not letting them back in the game."
Sophomore midfielder Holly Drown was held scoreless for the first time all season after she notching eight goals in her last four games. It was only the third time all season that the scoring tandem of Typadis, Drown and Zwick did not all score in the same game. Typadis has now scored in 37 consecutive games.
Kevin Dooley can be reached at kdooley@student.umass.edu. Log onto the Daily Collegian's sports blog at dailycollegiansports.blogspot.com.
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