HIGH POINT, N.C. – No. 2 seed Richmond got a hat trick from tournament Most Outstanding Player Luke Frankeny, including the eventual game-winning goal with just under three minutes to play, as the Spiders knocked off No. 1 seed and ninth-ranked Jacksonville by a 10-9 score in the title game of the Southern Conference Men’s Lacrosse Championship on Saturday.
Richmond (11-4) claimed its third SoCon Championship title and first since 2019. The Spiders secured the SoCon’s automatic bid to the NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championship, the selection show for which will air on ESPNU at 9 p.m. ET Sunday.
Neither team led by more than two goals in the contest, but it was Frankeny’s third goal of the day in the waning minutes that finally gave the 17
th-ranked Spiders a 10-8 lead and a little breathing room with their first two-goal lead since holding a 4-2 advantage with 13:58 to play in the second quarter.
Jacksonville (14-3) tried to rally for what would have been the sixth tie of the afternoon, with Max Waldbaum drawing JU within a goal on his strike with 36.3 seconds left, but Richmond won the ensuing faceoff and was able to run out the clock and avenge a two-goal loss to the Dolphins from earlier in the season.
JU took its only its second lead of the contest at 8-7 on Jackson Intrieri’s fourth goal of the day with 13:49 to play, but Frankeny sandwiched two goals around a Cooper Dainton strike as the Spiders scored three straight in the fourth quarter to swing momentum.
The Spiders took an early 2-0 lead on goals from Ryan Lanchbury and Dalton Young in the first quarter and before Intrieri, the SoCon Freshman of the Year, got the Dolphins on the board. Frankeny then scored his first of the day off a Lanchbury pass before JU’s Jeremy Winston got the goal back with just under two minutes to play in the opening frame.
The sides scored three goals apiece in the second quarter, with Intrieri sandwiching a pair for the Dolphins around an Ethan LaMond goal. Ryan Dunn, Lance Madonna and Young scored for the Spiders in the frame, with Young’s goal with 2:37 remaining staking Richmond to a 6-5 halftime lead.
Tyler Corpora and Jack Dolan scored in the third for JU, with Dolan’s goal with 5:26 left in the frame putting JU on top for the first time on the day. Madonna pulled the Spiders even with his second goal of the afternoon with just three seconds left as the contest entered the final 15 minutes level at 7.
Intrieri’s goal with 13:49 to play put Jacksonville ahead for the final time before Richmond’s decisive three-goal spurt over a span of 5:04 in the fourth.
Lanchbury and Intrieri shared game-high honors with four points apiece, as Lanchbury had three assists to go along with his goal.
Frankeny scored a tournament-record eight goals in Richmond’s two games, as he netted five in a win over High Point in the semifinals on Thursday.
Richmond keeper Zach Vigue made seven stops on Saturday to finish the tournament with 25 total, one shy of the tournament record.
JU keeper Luke Millican made 11 saves in the losing effort.
Tournament Most Outstanding Player
Luke Frankeny, Gr., M, Richmond
Pinnacle Award (highest GPA on championship-winning team)
Jake Kapp, Jr., LSM/D, Richmond
All-Tournament Team
Brayden Mayea, High Point
Asher Nolting, High Point
Alex Baber, VMI
Jack Liselli, VMI
Zack Deaken, Jacksonville
Colin Hinton, Jacksonville
Jackson Intrieri, Jacksonville
Tim Adams, Richmond
Luke Frankeny, Richmond
Jake Saunders, Richmond
Zach Vigue, Richmond
Dalton Young, Richmond
SoCon Men’s Lacrosse Championship
(Vert Stadium; High Point, N.C.)
May 5 (Thursday)
No. 1 Jacksonville 13, No. 4 VMI 5
No. 2 Richmond 12, No. 3 High Point 11
(Vert Stadium; High Point, N.C.)
May 7 (Saturday)
No. 2 Richmond 10, No. 1 Jacksonville 9
-www.SoConSports.com-