HANK KURZ Jr.
AP Sports Writer

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Richmond’s first season playing men’s lacrosse started with five consecutive losses.

It will end in the NCAA tournament, which begins Wednesday night with two play-in games.

The Spiders (6-10) play at Air Force (10-5) in one of them, and the winner plays top-seeded Duke on Saturday.

Richmond won consecutive games for the first time all season in avenging regular season losses to top-seeded Mercer and second-seeded High Point to win the Atlantic Sun tournament last weekend.

Richmond is among the youngest teams in the country with 22 freshmen, and the only team with a losing record in the NCAA field. Coach Dan Chemotti says his is also a team that has learned how to win.

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