CHARLOTTE, N.C.— Kelley Duffey (New Hope, Minn. , Robinsdale Cooper ) reached 300 career points this afternoon as the Royals of Queens University of Charlotte fell to Belmont Abby College 12-11 in the semifinal round of the 2010 Conference Carolinas Women's Lacrosse Tournament. With the loss, the Royals end their season at 7-10 while the Crusaders improve to 9-8 and advance to the championship game against fourth-ranked Limestone College tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. at the Queens Sports Complex at Marion Diehl Park.
Queens opened the game with a two goal lead in the first seven minutes of play before Belmont Abbey found the back of the net. The Royals would lead by two points once more before both teams began trading goals. Six different Royals players scored in the first half giving them a well rounded offense against the Belmont Abbey defense. With the game tied at six, Emily Hudgins of Belmont Abbey snuck a ball past goalkeeper Rebecca Markle (Hampstead, Md., North Carroll ) to give the two seed a one point lead at the half, 7-6.
The second half of play was much like the first seeing five ties and two lead changes. Shannon Casey (Bel Air, Md., John Carroll) netted two back-to-back goals within two minutes giving the Royals a 10-9 lead. Her goals were soon followed by two Crusader's goals giving the lead back to Belmont Abbey. With 4:50 on the clock Duffey scored an unassisted goal to tie the game up at 11. The goal counted as her 300th career point. Both teams battled on the defensive end getting huge stops keeping the game tied until the final seconds. Laurie Jordan found Elyse Mohn cutting to the goal with 19 seconds on the clock. Mohn fired the ball in to the net for the game winning goal.
Queens won the battle of the ground balls scooping up 32 to Belmont Abbey's 30. The draw control match was even at 12 for the game. The Crusaders outshot the Royals 34-30.
Duffey netted two goals and recorded four assists for her six points today. Casey recorded a hat trick and one assists. Enna Saffos (Centerville, Md., Queen Anne) and Caitlin O'Rourke ( Winter Springs, Fla., Winter Springs ) tallied two goals apiece while Kristi Kemp (Lake Mary, Fla., Winter Springs) and Alison Doron ( Zionsville, Ind., Zionsville ) each chipped in one. Caitlin Flanagan (West Islip, N.Y., West Islip) led in ground balls and draw controls with five and four, respectively. Markle recorded 14 saves in the loss.
Susan Killeavy and Jordan each recorded hat tricks for the Crusaders. Brianna Dignan and Hudgins scored two goals apiece. Amanda Jones scooped up five ground balls and possessed four draw controls. Laura Dowd also had four draw controls. Natalie Crenshaw tallied six saves for the win.
Between games one and two Conference Carolinas presented the 2010 recipients with their Player of the Week certificates and All-Conference Awards.
Game 1 Recap
In the first semifinal game of the day between top-seeded Limestone College and fourth-seeded Pfeiffer University, the Saints took home the win defeating the Falcons 21-9.
The Saints arsenal proved to be too strong for the Falcons as they connected on 21 of 36 shots. Chelsea Treat led Limestone with six goals and one assists. Racquel Prager was close behind with five goals while Renee Albro recorded a hat trick.
Jessica Kennedy led the Falcons with three goals while Jessica Moulton and Heidi Karaszkiewicz chipped in two goals apiece.
