(Photo Courtesy of Richmond Athletics)

Six times Richmond found themselves in a man-down situation on Friday night. All six of those instances ended with the Spiders being able to kill the penalty, keeping Towson off the board in such situations. That man-down success from the Spiders is just one piece of what was an incredible defensive performance in their 10-7 home victory over the visiting Towson Tigers.

The Spiders also caused 13 of Towson’s 20 turnovers, won the ground ball battle 31-22, and helped the Tigers into a shooting performance that saw just 16 of their 31 shots come on cage. Friday also marked the first time this season in which Towson was held to single digits on the scoreboard.

Zach Vigue anchored the Spiders’ defense with nine saves and 56% save percentage. Jake Saunders led the way out in front of the cage with a monster day, grabbing seven ground balls and causing five turnovers.

Four of those man-down stops from the Spiders came in the first half of play (two in each of the first and second frames). The third instance was perhaps the most significant as the Spiders converted the stop into a goal from  Max Merklinger, who had assisted Lance Madonna just minutes earlier, on the other to tie things up 4-4 with 6:38 left in the half. Richmond scored once more in the half to take a 5-4 lead into the break and would proceed to build upon it with two early third quarter scores to stretch their run to five goals and make it a 7-4 game.

Towson would end the Richmond run late in the third quarter, breaking the lid for the first time since early in the second quarter with consecutive scores from Joaquin Villagomez and Jonathan Bender, however the Tigers were never able to put together a complete comeback.

Up 7-6 entering the final frame, the Spiders scored the first three goals of quarter to stay ahead and eventually walk away with the three-goal victory over the Tigers.

Richmond saw seven different players find the back of the net with all but one of those scores being assisted. Aidan O’Neil (2G/2A) and Luke Grayum (2G/2A) each had four points with identical stat lines. Dalton Young also notched four points on the day, dishing out three assists and scoring a goal himself.

Jared Chenoy went 11-for-20 (55%) at the faceoff dot for the Spiders. He also had four ground balls.

Villagomez led the way for Towson with two goals.

Richmond moves to face Fairfield on Sunday. Towson faces rival Towson on Wednesday next week.

Stony Brook 15, Air Force 8

Stony Brook earned its first win of the season on Friday night with a 15-8 victory of the Air Force Falcons.

Air Force took the early 2-0 lead but it wouldn’t be long until the Seawolves took control and never conceded. A Matt Anderson score at the 6:03 mark of the first quarter sparked a six-goal Stony Brook run to pull them ahead 6-2 at the end of the first. They went into the half up 6-3 following a second frame in which Air Force’s Aidan Tolen scored the lone goal of the quarter.

The Seawolves outscored the Falcons 5-2 in the third quarter and 9-5 overall in the second half to take home the seven-goal victory for its first of the year.

Dylan Pallonetti (6G/4A) led the way with 10 points for a Seawolves offense that saw six different goal-scorers and nine different point-getters. Blake Behlen had four goals on the day while Jonathan Huber (2G/1A) and Noah Armitage (1G/2A) each had three points.

Renz Conlon went 15-for-25 (60%) at the faceoff dot. Jamison MacLachlan made nine saves with a 53% save percentage to anchor the Stony Brook defense.

Aidan Tolen led the way for Air Force with four points off three goals and one assist. Josh Yago had two goals.

Stony Brook moves to face Sacred Heart on Sunday. Air Force will travel to Mercer next week.

UMBC 16, Mount St. Mary’s 6

UMBC moved to 2-0 on the season with a 10-goal victory over Mount St. Mary’s in its home opener on Friday night.

Jared McMahon got Mount St. Mary’s on the board first early in the opening frame. However, that is the only lead the Mountaineers would enjoy all day. UMBC turned on the jets early and never let up, taking a 7-3 lead into the half and held a commanding 16-3 lead early in that final frame after a 9-0 run lasting from early in the third through early in the fourth.

Mateo Brown led the way for the Retrivers with five goals while Josh Tang had a hat trick. The pair led the way for a UMBC offense that saw eight different goal-scorers on the night.

Jayson Tingue made nine saves with a 69.2% save percentage as the starter in cage.

Jarded McMahon had two goals to lead Mount St. Mary’s. Connor Beals  went 13-for-20 (65%) at the faceoff dot.