Richmond, Va. – A 7-3 halftime deficit proved too much to overcome, as the third-seeded Paladins fell 13-6 to No. 2 seed Richmond in the Southern Conference semifinals on Thursday night. The loss drops the Paladins to 7-8 on the season, while the win moves the Spiders to 12-3.

William Holcomb led Furman with two goals on the night, while Zach Scott added two assists. Jonah Moore added a goal and an assist for two points, while Alec Van de Bovenkamp made 15 saves on the night.

Holcomb gave the Paladins the early 1-0 lead, before Richmond responded with back-to-back goals to take a 2-1 lead. The sophomore from Cincinnati, Ohio, tied the game at two with 47 seconds remaining in the quarter, before Richmond again responded with back-to-back goals as time expired to give the Spiders a 4-2 lead after one.

Stephen Wierzbicki cut the lead to 4-3 to open the second, but Richmond used three-straight scores to take a 7-3 lead into halftime. The Spiders came out with the momentum in the third period, pushing the lead to 9-3 before Furman ended the run on a goal by Jonah Moore to cut the lead to 9-4 after three.

Teddy Hatfield then picked up his fifth goal of the game for the Spiders, pushing the lead to 10-4, before Furman got back-to-back goals from Lou Yovino and Chad Kreuzer to cut the lead to four at 10-6. Richmond's Layne Collins ended the game on his own 3-0 run, advancing the Spiders to Saturday's championship game with the 13-6 win.

Richmond was led by Hatfield with five goals and three assists, while Benny Pugh held the Paladins to six goals on 20 shots.

Chandler Carver, Sports Information