(Photo Courtesy of Richmond Athletics)
For the second time in three days, Lance Madonna proved to have ice in his veins. After scoring the game-wining goal in Thursday’s conference semifinals victory over High Point, Madonna put home a buzzer-beater in the final seconds of the third quarter to knot things all up, 7-7.
The score marked his second goal of the day. He also dished out one assists, finding Cooper Dainton late in the fourth quarter for the go-ahead score. Luke Frankney followed up with one of his own minutes later, putting home his third goal of the day as he led the Spiders once again.
Madonna’s buzzer-beater and Frankney’s was part of the Spiders’ 2-4 game-ending run to help them defeat the Dolphins 10-9 on Saturday afternoon. But in the win, it was their defense that shined brightest.
Richmond became the first team to hold Jacksonville to single digits since their season opener against Johns Hopkins, which they lost. Additionally, the Spiders held the Dolphins’ top point-getter – Max Waldbaum – to one goal. Waldbaum’s lone goal came with 37 seconds left in the contest to make it a one-goal game. He also dished out one assist in the contest.
Jacob Greiner, who led the Dolphins in goals with 51 on the season, was held completely scoreless.
Zach Vigue made seven saves on the day to anchor the Richmond defense while Griffin Kology caused two turnovers. LSM Jake Kapp caused as many turnovers as Kology and also grabbed two ground balls.
Nathan Kapp dominated the faceoff dot for the Dolphins, going 13-for-22 (59%). However, he lost that final draw and Richmond’s Jake Saunders was able to grab the ground ball and run the clock out, ending any chance or hope the Dolphins may have for a late-game comeback.
Saturday’s victory ensured Richmond would go out on top in the SoCon lacrosse era. The Spiders have been to all eight conference titles and won four of them.
Lacrosse Bucket 