CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Queens University of Charlotte women's lacrosse team, ranked seventh in the nation, won its home opener this evening over the University of Tampa defeating the Spartans 14-8. Queens now sits 1-1 on the year and leads the all-time series with the Spartans, 5-0.  Tampa falls to 1-2 on the season.
 
Both Hanna Scott and Shannon Mansberger recorded hat tricks to lead the Royals tonight. The pair also tallied one assist apiece to finish with four points each. Allison Conn, Kyleigh Masteran, and Rachel Perrett added two goals each while Ally Blood and Taylor Quade chipped in with one apiece. Katie Wardle led in assists with four while Blood tallied two.
 
Following a yellow card given to Conn, the Spartans were able to get on the board first at 24:41. Queens' Scott answered knotting the game at 1-1 with 23:53 on the clock and two more goals followed putting the Royals ahead 3-1 with 18:52 on the clock. A goal from Graeme Eber of Tampa would cut the Royals' lead to one at 15:18, but Queens responded putting four more balls in the back of the net to head into the break leading 8-2.
 
Mansberger got the Royals going at the start of the second scoring a pair of goals to give Queens an eight-point lead at 24:38. She then assisted on the Royals' third goal of the half finding Perrett for a score before Conn put Queens ahead by 10, 12-2, with 17:00 minutes to play. With the clock running due to the 10-point margin, Perrett found the back of the net once more to put Queens in front, 13-2.
 
The Spartans made one final push at taking over, scoring six consecutive goals in the final 11 minutes of play to close the gap to five with less than two minutes on the clock. However, Queens' Scott would have the final word scoring the last goal of the night with 1:18 to play to help the Royals grab their first win of the season.
 
Queens outshot the Spartans, 29-20, putting 24 shots on goal to Tampa's 15 shots on frame. The Royals also totaled 20 ground balls to Tampa's 18. Both teams collected 12 draw controls each.
 
Queens was led on the defensive end by Cammy Case who totaled seven caused turnovers. Case also totaled six draw controls while Conn recorded six ground balls and three draw controls. Chase Brokaw took the win in the cage after recording seven saves.
 
Allie Popelar led the Spartans with a pair of goals this evening while six others scored one goal. Bridget Sutter tallied 10 saves in the loss.
 
The Royals will return to Dickson Field for their second game against a top 10 opponent as they welcome No. 6 Florida Tech on Sunday, Feb. 25. The game is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.