(Photo Courtesy of Richmond Athletics)

In the first year of Atlantic 10 lacrosse, the most experience program as far as championships are concerned took home the crown.

Richmond defeated High Point 15-8 on Saturday afternoon to punch their ticket to the NCAA Tournament. It marks the fifth conference championship for the Spiders in just its ninth full season as a program.

Lance Madonna (2G/4A) led the Spiders with six points in the win while Dalton Young (2G/1A) had three points. Derrek Madonna, Luke Grayum, and Henry Alpaugh each had two goals.

Zach Vigue made 15 saves to anchor a Richmond defense that held the Panthers to their lowest scoring output of the season since their opener versus Duke (20-8).

Brayden Mayea got High Point on the board first at the 9:21 mark of the opening frame and Jack Sawyer made it a 2-2 game nearly six minutes later. After that, however, it would be all Richmond.

The Spiders took a 6-3 lead into the half following a Jake Kapp pole goal late in the second quarter. Kapp’s score sparked a six-goal run that pulled the Spiders ahead 11-3 with 6:42 remaining in the third. Dalton Young, Jared Chenoy, and Luke Grayum added goals in the fourth quarter to get Richmond to 15 and help seal the deal.

Richmond outshot High Point 40-33 and put 24 of their shots on cage. High Point put 23 of their shots on cage. The Spiders had 13 turnovers to High Point’s 20.

High Point saw Jack Sawyer net a hat trick. Jack VanOverbeke dished out four assists.

Richmond (11-4, 4-1 Atlantic 10) will wait until Sunday night to see where they will be slated in the NCAA Tournament.