No. 16 UVA Travels to In-State Foe No. 12 Richmond on Saturday

March 30, 2017

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia men’s lacrosse team returns to action on Saturday as the Cavaliers (5-4) visit in-state foe Richmond (8-1) at Robins Stadium. Faceoff is set for 1 p.m. This week Virginia is ranked No. 16 in the USILA coaches poll and No. 14 in the Inside Lacrosse/Maverik media poll. UVA shares No. 16 with North Carolina in the coaches poll. Richmond is ranked No. 12 in the coaches poll and No. 11 in the media poll.

Live stats will be available at VirginiaSports.com. There will be a live radio broadcast in the Charlottesville area on WINA 1070 AM and 98.9 FM, and it will be a simulcast as an audio webcast on VirginiaSports.com. There will be a free live video webstream on SpiderTV, courtesy of RichmondSpiders.com.

Saturday marks the fourth all-time meeting between the Cavaliers and Spiders in men’s lacrosse, a series UVA leads 3-0. UVA currently owns a 67-game winning streak against programs from the Commonwealth of Virginia. UVA won the 2014 meeting at Richmond, 13-12. The contest served as the first NCAA Division I game in the history of the Richmond program. Virginia hosted Richmond for the first time in 2015 and came away with a 14-7 triumph. The 2016 meeting at Robins Stadium ended in UVA’s favor, 9-0, serving as the first Cavalier shutout since 2007. This year’s contest will pit UVA’s No. 2-ranked goal-scoring offense (15.67) against the nation’s No. 1 goalie, Richmond’s Benny Pugh, who is the top goalkeeper in the nation in goals against average (5.18) and save percentage (70.2 percent).

Michael Kraus leads UVA with 25 goals and 43 points. Zed Williams has a team-best 21 assists and is second on the team with 39 points. Mike D’Amario is second on the team with 24 goals, while Dox Aitken has 22 goals and 30 points. Aitken’s goal and point total is a UVA record for freshman midfielders. Goalie Griffin Thompson has started two straight games for the Cavaliers and is saving 40.9 percent of shots between the pipes and posting a 14.68 goals against average.

Dan Chemotti is in his fourth season as the head coach of Richmond after being the top assistant on Charley Toomey’s staff at Loyola, including being part of the Greyhounds’ 2012 NCAA title team. Chemotti took Richmond to the NCAA Tournament in the Spiders’ first NCAA Division I season as the champions of the Atlantic Sun Tournament. Richmond is coming off a second-place SoCon finish in 2016 with an 11-5 record, losing in the SoCon Championship game to Air Force in overtime. Teddy Hatfield is leading Richmond with 21 goals, 17 assists and 38 points. Ryan Lee is next on the team with 19 goals, 12 assists and 31 points. Dan Ginestro has 10 goals, 12 assists and 22 points to round out the top Spiders on offense.

After Saturday, next up for the Cavaliers is a return to ACC play and KlÃÆ’¶ckner Stadium on Sunday, April 9 against North Carolina. Faceoff is set for 7 p.m. The game will be televised live on ESPNU.