PHILADELPHIA (11/08/03) - Top-seeded Richmond (18-3) captured its second consecutive Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament crown with a 3-1 victory over second-seed Temple (11-11) on Saint Joseph's University's Finnesey Field. With the victory the Spiders will host NorPac Tournament champ California in a NCAA Tournament play-in game on Tuesday at 1:00 PM.

Richmond took control of the action early and tallied the game's first goal in the 17th minute when senior Lydia Decembrino (Hummelstown, Pa./Lower Dauphin) converted on a penalty stroke.

Temple withstood UR's early pressure and responded with a goal less than four minutes later to knot the contest at 1-1. Sophomore Rachel Barber (Millville, NJ/Millville) banged home a rebound at the 14:54 mark.

The Spiders went on top for good late in the first half and were never in danger the rest of the way. Freshman Amanda Florio (Flemington, N.J./Hunterdon Central) slipped the game-winner into the cage off a pass from sophomore Whitney Wells (Clayton, Del./Smyrna).

Freshman Heather Wrublesky (Langhorne, Pa./Neshaminy) added insurance for Richmond 14:41 into the second half to close out the scoring.

Richmond controlled action at both ends of the turf, outshooting Temple 21-2 and holding a 9-3 advantage on penalty corners.

Temple's Erin Conroy (Centereach, N.Y./Centereach) played well and registered 14 saves in goal. UR's Michelle Swartz (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park) needed to make just one stop.

Richmond's Allie Howard (Lancaster, Pa./Manheim Township), the A-10 Offensive Player of the Year, was tabbed as the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

The All-Tournament Team consisted of Saint Joseph's Courtney Huff (Oreland, Pa./Springfield), West Chester's Kendra Wood (Lititz, Pa./Warwick), Temple's Dannon Mehaffey (Bridgeton, N.J./Cumberland Regional), Melissa DeCesaris (Shavertown, Pa./Lake Lehman) and Haley Dervinis (Larksville, Pa./Wyoming Valley West) and Richmond's, Inge van Bogerijen (Zeist, The Netherlands/K.S.G. de Breul), Lesley Russell (Dallas, Texas/The Hockaday School) and Colleen Wevodeau (Annville, Pa./Northern Lebanon), along with Howard, Decembrino and Wells.

-A10-

SCORING SUMMARY:
GOAL Time Team     Goal Scorer              Assists                                 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.   16:31 UR       Lydia Decembrino         Penalty shot                            
2.   20:06 TEMPLE   Barber, Rachel           Unassisted
3.   30:25 UR       Amanda Florio            Whitney Wells
4.   49:41 UR       Heather Wrublesky        Unassisted