University of Massachusets Athletics
Sunday, April 28
Fairfax, Va.
12:00 PM
University of Massachusetts
15-4
18
vs
19
Richmond
17-3
1
2
OT
F
Richmond
8
10
1
19
Massachusetts
12
6
0
18
Richmond Outlasts Women's Lax 19-18 In Overtime For A-10 Title
April 28, 2019 | Women's Lacrosse
Cerasi, Anderson combine for 10 goals in A-10 title game.
FAIRFAX, Va. - Richmond scored with four seconds in regulation to force overtime and again with 4:01 remaining in the extra stanza to overcome the UMass women's lacrosse team, 19-18, for the 2019 Atlantic 10 Championship title. It marked the second consecutive year the Spiders claimed the league trophy and the sixth consecutive year the two programs played for the championship title.
UMass (15-4) set an NCAA single-game record with 30 draw controls paced by Caitlyn Petro's career-high and UMass record 19 on the day. Offensively, the Minutewomen were led by seven points from Kaitlyn Cerasi who scored five goals and added two assists. Kiley Anderson notched five goals to tie the UMass single-season record giving her 67 on the year matching Sam Rush's 2014 total. Lauren Hiller took the loss, her first of the year, making seven saves in cage. Haley Connaughton rounded out the top offensive performers with three goals and three assists.
Richmond (17-3) earned the league's automatic bid to the upcoming NCAA Tournament with Sam Geiersbach scoring the overtime game-winner. That capped a five-goal run that the Spiders closed the game with for the win. Mia Castagnero finished with a game-high six goals, while Marissa Brown had a game-high eight points (4g, 4a). Madison Ostrick scored with four seconds left in regulation to force the overtime period. Megan Gianforte made 10 saves for the win.
The first half saw both teams match early runs, but a five-goal spurt for UMass midway through gave the Minutewomen a 10-5 lead. The Spiders closed the gap, but two scores by Cerasi, including one at the buzzer, gave UMass a 12-8 lead at the intermission.
UMass opened the second half with goals from Connaughton and Anderson to push the lead to six just three minutes into play. Richmond responded with four goals, including three from Castagnero, closing the gap to 14-12 with 18:45 remaining.
The Minutewomen eventually stretched the lead back to four over the next 10 minutes, but back-to-back goals by Castagnero followed by Julie Ball's second of the season with 1:22 remaining made it a one-goal game, 18-17.
A Richmond turnover with 27 seconds remaining in regulation gave UMass the ball back, but the Spiders forced a turnover on the restart. Sam Geiersbach found Ostrick for the game-tying goal with four seconds to go.
In overtime, UMass forced a pair of turnovers after Richmond won the opening draw, but could not clear the ball of the Spider's offensive zone. The second turnover proved the difference maker as Richmond's Geiersbach was able to score the game-winner.
Despite the dominance in the draw circle with a 30-to-8 advantage, the Minutewomen held just a 33-to-32 edge in shots. Richmond forced UMass into 22 turnovers while committing just 10 miscues.
The game marked the 12th time UMass has played for the Atlantic 10 title and the ninth time the two programs meet in the championship game. Each of the last three games between the two programs, last year's championship game and this year's regular season match-up, all went to overtime.
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UMass (15-4) set an NCAA single-game record with 30 draw controls paced by Caitlyn Petro's career-high and UMass record 19 on the day. Offensively, the Minutewomen were led by seven points from Kaitlyn Cerasi who scored five goals and added two assists. Kiley Anderson notched five goals to tie the UMass single-season record giving her 67 on the year matching Sam Rush's 2014 total. Lauren Hiller took the loss, her first of the year, making seven saves in cage. Haley Connaughton rounded out the top offensive performers with three goals and three assists.
Richmond (17-3) earned the league's automatic bid to the upcoming NCAA Tournament with Sam Geiersbach scoring the overtime game-winner. That capped a five-goal run that the Spiders closed the game with for the win. Mia Castagnero finished with a game-high six goals, while Marissa Brown had a game-high eight points (4g, 4a). Madison Ostrick scored with four seconds left in regulation to force the overtime period. Megan Gianforte made 10 saves for the win.
The first half saw both teams match early runs, but a five-goal spurt for UMass midway through gave the Minutewomen a 10-5 lead. The Spiders closed the gap, but two scores by Cerasi, including one at the buzzer, gave UMass a 12-8 lead at the intermission.
UMass opened the second half with goals from Connaughton and Anderson to push the lead to six just three minutes into play. Richmond responded with four goals, including three from Castagnero, closing the gap to 14-12 with 18:45 remaining.
The Minutewomen eventually stretched the lead back to four over the next 10 minutes, but back-to-back goals by Castagnero followed by Julie Ball's second of the season with 1:22 remaining made it a one-goal game, 18-17.
A Richmond turnover with 27 seconds remaining in regulation gave UMass the ball back, but the Spiders forced a turnover on the restart. Sam Geiersbach found Ostrick for the game-tying goal with four seconds to go.
In overtime, UMass forced a pair of turnovers after Richmond won the opening draw, but could not clear the ball of the Spider's offensive zone. The second turnover proved the difference maker as Richmond's Geiersbach was able to score the game-winner.
Despite the dominance in the draw circle with a 30-to-8 advantage, the Minutewomen held just a 33-to-32 edge in shots. Richmond forced UMass into 22 turnovers while committing just 10 miscues.
The game marked the 12th time UMass has played for the Atlantic 10 title and the ninth time the two programs meet in the championship game. Each of the last three games between the two programs, last year's championship game and this year's regular season match-up, all went to overtime.
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Team Stats
UR
UMASS
Shots
32
33
Turnovers
10
22
Caused Turnovers
11
4
Draw Controls
8
30
Free-Position Shots
3
3
Ground Balls
16
11
Game Leaders
G
5
A
2
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
0
CT
0
G
5
A
0
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
2
CT
0
G
3
A
3
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
1
CT
0
G
2
A
1
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
1
CT
2
Players Mentioned
A
/ Women's LacrosseA
/ Women's LacrosseA
/ Women's Lacrosse
GK
/ Women's Lacrosse
A
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