CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Queens University of Charlotte women's lacrosse team, ranked No.7 in the nation, won its South Atlantic Conference opener today, topping Catawba College, 16-4. Queens improves to 3-1 on the season, while the Indians fall to 2-2 overall.
The Royals were led by
Ally Blood who totaled three goals and two assists.
Kelly Dowd followed with three goals, while
Alexandra Bruder added two goals and two assists.
Katie Wardle,
Katie Pawlikowski, and
Sydney Lear netted two goals apiece.
Allison Conn and
Katy Miller each scored a goal, while
Hanna Scott and
Rachel Perrett notched two assists each.
On the defensive end,
Jasmin Singh led with four caused turnovers.
Aarika Kaester and
Sarah Cliff each tallied two caused turnovers. Kaester also totaled five ground balls.
Chase Brokaw took the win in goal with eight saves.
Queens opened with complete control of the game as Blood, Conn, Bruder, Wardle, and Dowd put seven unanswered goals on the board. During that span, Blood netted three goals, while Wardle, Bruder, and Dowd added two goals apiece, to give the Royals a quick 7-0 lead with 10:13 remaining in the first half.
Gianna Pezzulo scored a goal at 9:48, for the Indians, to prevent a shutout win for the Royals, but a goal by the Royals' Dowd increased the margin back to seven, 8-1. A pair of goals from Blood put Queens ahead 10-1 just before Catawba's Kirstyn Kruse zipped one in the net to give the game a 10-2 lead at the break.
The Royals kept rolling in the start of the second half as they put three goals in the back of the net to stretch the lead to 11, 13-2. However, the Indians' Jillian Kurolveck responded to make the score 13-3 with 14:10 remaining. Queens then rattled off four straight in the closing minutes to open league play at 1-0.
Catawba was led by Pezzulo who netted two goals, while Kruse had one goal and one assist.
Queens won the battle in shots on goal, 29-16, ground balls, 23-16, draw controls, 13-8.
The Royals will be traveling to face Bentley University in Sparks, Maryland on Wednesday, March 8. The game is set to begin at 1 p.m.
