RICHMOND, Va. -- The University of Richmond men's lacrosse team won its second straight Atlantic 10 Conference championship Saturday, defeating St. Joseph's 8-6 at Robins Stadium and positioning itself to host an NCAA Tournament game next week.
The victory was the program's 7th conference title and 12th consecutive appearance in the A-10 championship game since the program's founding in 2014. Richmond finished the regular season with a 13-1 record.
Two-time A-10 Offensive Player of the Year Aidan O'Neil was named the tournament's most outstanding player after scoring his first goal of the game in the second quarter to give Richmond a 3-2 lead. Daniel Picart added another goal 30 seconds later, sending the Spiders into halftime with a 4-2 advantage.
St. Joseph's trimmed the deficit to 5-3 in the third quarter on a goal by Ben Dutton, but Richmond responded. Gavin Creo scored to push the lead to 6-3, then found Joe Sheridan for a one-timer to close out a personal 2-0 run and send Richmond into the fourth quarter leading 8-4.
The Hawks pulled within two late, but Richmond held on for the 8-6 win.
Head coach Dan Chemotti credited the program's culture for its sustained success.
"Each year we've been able to unlock something different, and that's a credit to the players in the locker room, that's a credit to the culture of the team," Chemotti said. "Each senior class, I think, is just trying to outdo the last senior class, so a credit to the guys who started this whole thing from the beginning."
O'Neil said the program's record speaks for itself despite its lone loss of the season.
"There's only one game that we could have changed the outcome in, and I mean if you go 14 to 1 or 13-1, the record kind of speaks for itself. We play a tough schedule and Notre Dame is going to be a top 2 or 3 team, and that loss really shouldn't blemish us too much," O'Neil said.
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