University of Richmond
7-2
Duke
6-2
Spiders Fall Short in Double Overtime Thriller Against Duke Saturday
03/15/2025 | Men's Lacrosse
Richmond, Va. – The No. 14 Spiders used opportunistic and efficient scoring to battle No. 8 Duke to double overtime Saturday at Robins Stadium, but ultimately fell 13-12, with the deciding goal coming 15 seconds into the second overtime period.
Richmond's offense was led by Joe Sheridan and Lucas Littlejohn, each recording three goals and an assist, with all of Littlejohn's points coming in the last 11:43 of regulation. Lukas Olsson and Jared Chenoy each had two goals, Max Merklinger had a goal and an assist, Gavin Creo had a goal, and Aidan O'Neil and Henry Alpaugh both had assists.
Duke jumped out to a 1-0 lead 82 seconds into the game before Richmond responded with one of its own just seven seconds later at 13:27 off the stick of Chenoy, who won the faceoff and scored his first of two goals in the game. Chenoy was prolific in the contest, winning 19-of-27 faceoffs and recorded another goal later in the fourth quarter to bring his season total to three. With his fifth faceoff win against Mercyhurst last week, Chenoy became Richmond's all-time leader in faceoffs won, surpassing the previous record of 541. He is also the first-ever faceoff specialist in Richmond history to win over 550 draws. Chenoy made additional history during the game as well. With his 10th ground ball Saturday, he broke the all-time program record for ground balls, now with 291 to his name.
Duke added two more to make it 3-1 at 12:23, but the Spiders strung together a quick three-goal run between 6:58 and 5:25 to take a 4-3 lead—one of two leads they'd hold during the game. Duke tied the game again at 2:00 in the first, marking one of eight ties throughout the game.
Both teams traded goals in the second quarter, with Duke scoring the first two before Richmond answered with two of its own. However, Duke then went on a four-goal run, extending its lead to 10-6 at 13:16 in the fourth.
From there, Richmond put together another quick string of goals, scoring four between 11:33 and 7:22, including three in just 1:21 of game time. Littlejohn capped the run with his first of three goals. Duke scored again, but Littlejohn added two more back-to-back to give the Spiders a 12-11 lead with 2:52 left in regulation. However, Duke responded at 1:04 to send the game to overtime.
Neither team scored in the first overtime, but Duke sealed the win 15 seconds into the second overtime period.
Defensively, Zach Vigue made 10 saves, and six Spiders each recorded a caused turnover.
Richmond won 19-of-27 faceoffs and was a perfect 14 of 14 on clears, compared to Duke's 16 of 22. Richmond also won the ground ball battle, outpacing the Blue Devils 30-25, and the Spiders took 10 more shots than their opponents (46 to Duke's 36). However, the Blue Devils proved to be more opportunistic, with 23 of their shots on goal.
The loss moved Richmond to 5-3 on the year, while Duke improved to 8-1.
The Spiders will look to bounce back when they close out non-conference play next week with a trip to Washington, D.C., for a meeting with No. 12 Georgetown on March 22 at 2:00 p.m.
