Oct. 10, 2008

UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - Richmond begins its quest for its sixth A-10 regular-season title in the last seven years when it hosts No. 17 ranked Massachusetts in the Atlantic 10 opener Friday at Crenshaw Field. at 2 p.m.

The Spiders have won 47 of the last 50 games against A-10 teams, but their last two losses against A-10 teams came by one goal to Massachusetts last season. The Minutewomen won 1-0 in Amherst to snap Richmond's 46-game winning streak against conference foes and then defeated the Spiders 2-1 in the A-10 semifinals to put an end to Richmond's reign as the five-time conference champions.

The Minutewomen and Spiders have combined for the last 12 Atlantic 10 titles but enter Friday's conference opener via different paths. UMass has jumped out to an 8-3 record and a No. 18 ranking. The Minutewomen have played three opponents and lost all three games by one goal.

Richmond enters conference play with a 3-8 record having played seven ranked teams. The Spiders did defeat No. 14 American last Friday, but six of Richmond's eight losses have come against ranked teams. This will be Richmond's fifth-straight game against a ranked opponent, including a 6-3 loss to No. 3 Wake Forest on Sunday when the Spiders were down 4-3 with under seven minutes to play.

Senior Alex Malatesta leads the Spiders with 12 points coming on four goals and four assists, while freshman Katelin Peterson leads the team with five goals and is second with 11 points. Junior Sarah Blythe-Wood is the reigning A-10 Player of the Week, is tied for second on the team with four goals and is third on the squad with eight points.

Erin Parker leads UMass with 14 points coming on four goals and six assists...Katelyn Orlando has a team-high six goals.

The game can be viewed on RichmondSpiders.com on SpiderTV and be sure to check out RichmondSpiders,com for post-game video coverage.