The Richmond Spiders men's lacrosse team represents the

University of Richmond The University of Richmond (UR or U of R) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Richmond, Virginia, United States. It is a primarily undergraduate, residential institution with approxim ...

Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...

. Through the 2022 season, it competed in the

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

Southern Conference The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I. Southern Conference College football, football teams c ...

. After that season, the Spiders' full-time home of the

Atlantic 10 Conference The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I. The A-10's member schools are located most ...

(A-10) established a men's lacrosse league, with Richmond as one of the six inaugural members. The Spiders play their home games at Robins Stadium and are currently coached by Dan Chemotti.

History

Starting a program

In September 2012, the University of Richmond announced a reconfiguration of its athletics program, discontinuing its men's soccer and men's track and field programs at the conclusion of the 2012–13 season and the elevation of men's lacrosse from club to varsity status at the NCAA Division I level starting in 2014. One month after revealing its plans to elevate men's lacrosse to varsity status, Richmond announced it had hired Dan Chemotti to lead the program. Chemotti, a former player and captain at

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

, came to Richmond at the end of a five-year stint as an assistant at Loyola University, which won the Division I national championship in his final year on staff. In February 2013, Richmond announced it would join the Atlantic Sun Conference, now known as the

ASUN Conference The Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN) is a collegiate athletic conference operating mostly in the Southeastern United States. The league participates at the NCAA Division I level, and began sponsoring football at the Division I FCS level in 2022. ...

, as an associate member for men's lacrosse when the program began play in 2014. The 2014 season would be the first year of men's lacrosse sponsorship for the Atlantic Sun, with full members

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and Mercer being joined by associate members Furman, High Point, Richmond, and VMI.

Up and running

Richmond began play in the 2014 season, hosting No. 7

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

in front of 4,249 fans at Robins Stadium. Richmond held a halftime lead over the Cavaliers but ultimately fell, 13–12. Despite a strong showing against a high-quality opponent in their first-ever game, it took until the sixth game of the season for the Spiders to record the program's first victory, a 12–11 win over

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

. Richmond went on to finish the regular season with a record of 4–10, but with an Atlantic Sun record of 2–3, the Spiders earned the fourth seed in the Atlantic Sun tournament held at the campus of No. 1 seed Mercer. Richmond upset Mercer in the semifinals, 14–6, before defeating No. 2 seed High Point, 8–7, to earn the Atlantic Sun's automatic bid to the 2014 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship. Richmond became the first first-year program in NCAA Division I history to qualify for the tournament. The Spiders traveled to

Air Force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

for one of two play-in games, where Richmond fell, 13–5.

The SoCon takes over

Just prior to the 2014 season, the Atlantic Sun Conference and the

announced a partnership that would see the Southern Conference (SoCon) take over sponsorship of men's lacrosse as both Mercer and VMI joined the SoCon beginning in the 2014–15 academic year. With the addition of

Bellarmine University Bellarmine University ( ; BU) is a private university, private Catholic university in Louisville, Kentucky, UNited States. It opened on October 3, 1950, as Bellarmine College, established by Archbishop John A. Floersh of the Archdiocese of Louis ...

, the 2015 SoCon season included seven programs. The 2015 season saw the Spiders finish the regular season with a 10–4 record, with three of the four losses coming to nationally ranked teams. Richmond finished a perfect 6–0 in SoCon play, earning a conference championship and the top seed in the Southern Conference tournament, which was held at Robins Stadium. Richmond defeated Furman in the semifinals but fell to High Point in double overtime in the championship game, ending the Spiders' season. 2016 saw the Southern Conference add Air Force as its eighth men's lacrosse program. The Spiders once again finished the regular season with a 10–4 record, placing second in the SoCon with a 6–1 record. Richmond's lone conference defeat was a 9–8 loss to

, which claimed the regular season conference championship with a perfect 7–0 record. In the Southern Conference tournament once again held at Robins Stadium, the Spiders defeated No. 3 seed High Point before falling once again to Air Force, 9–8 in overtime. Richmond's fourth year as a program in 2017 saw the team finish the regular season with a record of 11–3 including a victory over defending national champions

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and each of its three losses (Duke, Virginia, and Air Force) coming by a single goal. The Spiders finished 6–1 in SoCon play, earning a share of the regular season championship as part of a three-way tie with Air Force and Furman. Per the Southern Conference tie breaking criteria, Air Force received the number one seed in the conference tournament, while Richmond received the second seed and Furman the third seed. At the tournament, once again held at Robins Stadium, the Spiders defeated Furman in the semifinals before falling once more to Air Force, 9–6, to finish the season with a 12–4 record. Just prior to the start of the conference tournament, Richmond announced it had signed head coach Dan Chemotti to a new five-year contract.

A-10 homecoming

Since at least the mid-2010s, Richmond's full-time home of the A-10 had been working toward establishing a men's lacrosse league. In the 2022 season, the conference had four full members that sponsored men's lacrosse (Richmond, St. Bonaventure, Saint Joseph's, and UMass), two short of the number required for an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. In February 2022, ''USA Lacrosse Magazine'' reported that the A-10 was evaluating Fairfield, High Point, and

Hobart Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly hal ...

for associate membership in order to reach the required membership total. On May 23, 2022, the A-10 announced that it would establish a men's lacrosse league in the 2023 season, with the four full members joined by High Point and Hobart.

Season results

The following is a list of Richmond's results by season as an NCAA Division I program: {, class="wikitable" , - align="center" †NCAA canceled 2020 collegiate activities due to COVID-19.

All-American awards

First team

*Brendan Hynes (2017) *Benny Pugh (2017)

References

{{Atlantic 10 Conference men's lacrosse navbox College men's lacrosse teams in the United States Lacrosse teams in Virginia Richmond Spiders Atlantic 10 Conference men's lacrosse Lacrosse clubs established in 2014