CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The University of Richmond women's lacrosse team upset No. 12/15 Virginia 12-11 at Lower Turf Field on Wednesday evening.
 
With the win, the Spiders improve to 1-1, while Virginia falls to 0-2. The last time Richmond beat a top-15 team was in 2023, when the Spiders defeated then-No. 7/10 Virginia 16-15 in double overtime at Robins Stadium.
 
Senior Juliana Stanley led the team, tying a career high with four points on three goals and one assist. Junior Meghan Rode led the team with seven draws controls and also tallied three assists. Senior Charlotte Edwards scored two goals, and senior Emma Kroneberger also netted two goals, tying a career high. Sophomore Stella Axe posted a career high with three points on two goals and one assist. Senior Alexis Morton tallied one goal and one assist, junior Bridget Lonsinger recorded one goal and two assists, and sophomore Keating Hopkins scored one goal. Graduate student Rileigh Meyer tallied one assist and collected three draws controls. 
 
Leading the defense was freshman Grace Hallahan with two ground balls, two caused turnovers and one draw control. CC Jacobs also forced two turnovers.
 
In goal, junior Abby Francioli earned the win and collected 10 saves in 60 minutes of play.
 
Virginia came out strong in the opening minutes of the game scoring three straight goals to take the 3-0 lead. In response, the Spiders tied the game at 3-3 at the end of the first quarter. 
 
Richmond took its first lead of the night scoring less than two minutes into the start of the second quarter, 4-3. With both teams exchanging goals, the game was tied 7-7 with 3:58 left to go in the first half. To close the second quarter, the Spiders put two more goals past the UVA keeper, taking the 9-7 lead into halftime.
 
Starting the third quarter, UVA scored to close the deficit, 9-8. With back-to-back goals by Richmond, the Spiders held onto their largest lead of the game, 11-8. Both teams scored once more before the end of the quarter, with Richmond leading 12-9. 
 
In the last frame, Virginia was able to net two more goals but fell short. The Spiders sealed their upset win over UVA, 12-11. 
 
"Credit to UVA for a great game and making some adjustments that really challenged us," head coach Anne Harrington said.
 
"I am so proud of this team for their performance and buy-in tonight. We made some critical changes from our game on Saturday that really paid off. We had nine different people put up points, showing that this was such a team win. A huge shoutout to our bench for being relentless with their energy."
 
The Spiders will return to action when they face William & Mary on Wednesday, Feb. 18, in Williamsburg, Va.