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Program & ticket from the very first home game
RICHMOND, Va. – The University of Richmond is delighted to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Spider women’s football program with an alumni event this Saturday evening to commemorate the momentous occasion. The celebration has been postponed to this fall due to COVID-19 restrictions and regulations last spring.
In its 26 year history, Richmond has an all-time record of 214-237-41 that dates back to its inaugural 1996 season. The Spiders had only two head coaches in the history of the program – the current head coach Marty Beall and the long-time head coach Peter Albright.
The Spiders finished .500 or better in 12 seasons and even hit .600 or better in six of those seasons. In addition, Richmond went on eight consecutive seasons with 10 or more wins from 1997 to 2004.
During the 1997-2004 period, the Spiders made two appearances in the NCAA tournament and hold an overall record of 3-2 in NCAA tournament games. Richmond won the regular season Conference title as a member of the Colonial Athletic Association in 2000 with a 13-7 mark and was crowned the Atlantic 10 Tournament Champions in 2002.
Richmond set a winning standard from the start when the Spiders defeated Liberty 3-0 away in their opening game on August 30, 1996. Richmond followed two days later with the program’s first home game, in which the Spiders defeated Lehigh 4–1.
The Spiders then started with 13 wins in four consecutive seasons, crowned by a successful campaign in 2000 that ended with the program’s first appearance at the NCAA tournament. That season, Jaclyn Raveia became the first ever female player in Richmond to be honored by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America DI Women’s Soccer First Team All-America, having been honored the previous season with All-America. Brooke Sands also received All America Awards that season and was named to the third team.
The program’s best season came in 2002, when the Spiders finished with a record of 15-6-2, which included an Atlantic 10 Tournament Championship and Richmond’s second NCAA tournament appearances in three years. In the title game of the conference tournament, two goals and an assist from midfielder Meghan Ogilvie helped the third-placed Spiders to a 3-1 win over the top-seeded University of Rhode Island at the 10 in Dayton, Ohio.
The Spiders went ahead that season to knock out Clemson and his rival James Madison in the NCAA tournament to advance to the third round of the tournament in which Richmond eventually fell 4-0 to 8th Portland.
In his fourth season at the helm of the program, Beall is only the second head coach in Richmond’s 26-year history, and the Spiders are currently well on their way to achieving their best ever result under his leadership.
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