Last Sunday I headed over to my old stomping ground, the University of Richmond, to watch my college team take on the Temple Owls. I spent five years on that field, four as a player and one as a coach, but I had never been there as a spectator. 

Over the years, I had faced Temple in five battles in regular season and three in post season tournament play. Now as my former team warmed up to play in one of the most important games of the year, I sat in the stands watching and soaking up every minute.

It was an interesting feeling. I wasn’t sad to be a spectator like I expected, instead I was proud.  It’s a good feeling to see a program you helped build carrying on many of the same traditions you helped start. I have countless memories on that field, enough to last me a long time. It’s nice to watch without the weight on your shoulders. On Sunday, I was simply a fan of Richmond Spiders Lacrosse.

Picture taken by John Townsend

Well, almost just a fan. Since I wasn’t used to being still and quite during the game, I kept myself busy doing some video for LaxPower. During the game I captured game footage to make a highlight video.  I don’t have a lot of experience with video so I really had to focus on what I was doing. The game looks a lot different from behind the camera.

LaxPower Video:

Richmond was dominating the beginning of the game, but Temple quickly came back and took the lead. I wasn’t sure if the Spiders would be able to bounce back. That’s when things got exciting!

The beginning of the second half was all Owls as they put in four unanswered goals to get a head of the Spiders, 7-4 with 21:52 remaining in regulation. The teams went back and forth until the Spiders sparked a come back run with three goals in under two minutes.

Mandy Friend started it off taking the ball herself and hitting the upper right corner for her second goal of the game. Thirty-seconds later, Furstenburg got involved with an unassisted goal of her own. Friend then scored her third goal of the day to tie the game at nine with three minutes left to play.

Two minutes later, Richmond was put back on its heels once again as Temple’s Chelsea Rosiek scored off a free-position to put the Owls up, 10-9.

With just over thirty-seconds to play, a Temple foul sent freshman Anne Ryan to the eight-meter. Ryan zoomed the ball into the net to tie the game at 10 and send the game into overtime.

After the first three minutes of overtime, the score remained 10-10. With just over thirty seconds left to play in the first overtime period, Claire Cunniff took an isolation, beating three Temple defenders to put the Spiders up, 11-10. Richmond would go on to win the game over conference-rival Temple.

After the game I took an interview with Cunniff, a former teammate of mine, and the attacker who scored the game winning goal in OT to beat Temple.





Interview with Claire Cunniff:

It was a fun experience and I’m looking forward to my next game Friday night when William & Mary takes on Towson at 7pm. Stay tuned!

Before diving into my blog about my life after college, I’d like to set the scene a bit and introduce myself.  So here is a short clip about where I’ve been, where I am now, and where I plan on going.

I grew up in Radnor, Pennsylvania, as a very active kid. I participated in every sport under the sun. I loved being active and trying new things so my passion for all sports grew as I did. In high school, I played soccer, basketball and lacrosse, and also participated in other sports such as snowboarding, wakeboarding and tennis.  I was recruited to play both soccer and lacrosse in college but chose to pursue lacrosse.  It was evident right away that I had an amazing opportunity in front of me.  I fell in love with the University of Richmond and spent the next five years of my life there.

So life was good. Everything was going smoothly until I got stick checked in the head at practice one day during the fall of my freshman year.  This check resulted in my first concussion and would not be my last.  One concussion led to another and eventually ended my lacrosse career.

In college I endured another injury: I herniated two discs in my back which led to other problems including a partially torn oblique muscle.

Since I received a medical red shirt my sophomore year, I took a fifth year but didn’t want to risk my body anymore.  Many of you are probably wondering what took me so long-- I wonder the same thing--but when sports are your life you will do almost anything to keep them from slipping away.  My back was so messed up at this point that even if my head was normal I most likely still would not have been able to play.

I was on board as a student assistant coach for the year and although I struggled with not being able to play, I enjoyed teaching, strategizing and creating plays for the team.  It ended up being a great experience and I was able to learn a lot about myself. I graduated in May 2007 with a great education, amazing friends and teammates, leadership experience as a three-year captain, coaching experience, three Atlantic 10 championships, three NCAA appearances, a No. 8 ranking at best and, unfortunately, a pretty damaged body.

A few months after graduation and the end of my Richmond lacrosse run, I moved out to San Diego to start working for the Active Network as an online community coordinator, which is where I am today. I plan on doing a lot in the next year, including coaching lacrosse, experiencing new sporting events, traveling and, most importantly, healing my body so I can go back to leading an active lifestyle.  Stay tuned and join me on my journey as I begin “life after college.”