FARMVILLE, Va. – The back-to-back Atlantic 10 conference tournament champions and preseason A-10 favorite Richmond Spiders defeated Longwood 20-6 in both team's season opener on Sunday afternoon.
 
Richmond (1-0) was led by preseason all-conference team member Sam Geiersbach, one of three Spiders to notch a hat trick in the game. The redshirt junior, who notched 51 goals and 37 assists in 2019, collected three goals and an assist today, with a groundball and caused turnover. Freshman attacker Arden Tierney added three goals in her debut, as junior Nicole Concannon also collected three tallies.
 
Richmond entered the new season on a heels of a 2019 campaign where they set program-best marks in wins (17), points (455), and goals (314) on their way to their second-straight A-10 Tournament championship and NCAA tournament berth. After topping fellow A-10 powerhouse Massachusetts in the conference tournament in 2019, the Spiders earned the top spot in the conference preseason poll.
 
"Starting the season off with a challenging Richmond team was a really good test for us," said head coach Elaine Jones. "Richmond is a very quick and skilled opponent and we were just a second or two behind them today, which led to a number of our fouls and lack of draw control success.

"We learned that we need to be even more focused on executing the little details we go over in practice, for example, getting our hedges and slides where they need to be. That being said, our players battled to the end. We know we have plenty to build on and will continue to work specifically on the draws, as well as the offensive and defensive part of our game in preparation for Delaware State."

An early edge in draw controls led to consistent offensive pressure from the Spiders, as they held a first half edge in shots on goal of 19-6. Longwood played a tight second half, scoring four goals to Richmond's five in the final 30 minutes, but an early hole proved too much to overcome.
 
Senior Dana Joss led the Lancers with three points on two goals and an assist. Her first-half pass set up freshman Kaylen Karnes' first collegiate goal and Longwood's first tally of the season. Karnes buried her second goal of the game in the waning moments for a two-goal debut.

Preseason all-conference pick and Longwood's leading goal scorer in 2019 Kaitlin Luccarelli picked up where she left off, scoring two goals for the Lancers (0-1). In total, Longwood accumulated 12 shots, 10 draw controls, and six ground balls.  
 
The Lancers are back in action on Monday, Feburary 17 when they head to Dover, De. For a matchup with Delaware State. Action is set to start at 3 p.m.
 
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