CHARLOTTE, N.C.- The sixth-ranked Royals took care of business at home as they defeated this afternoon Lenoir-Rhyne, 21-5. With the win, Queens moves to 6-1 on the season and 4-0 in conference.
Kara Blanchard was dominant today doing a little bit of everything, finishing with an impeccable 10 points on five goals and five assists.
Rachel Perrett was a force to be reckoned with totaling seven points in the contest on five goals and a pair of assists.
Ally Blood produced five points on two goals and a trio of assists and
Kyleigh Masteran completed the hat trick and added an assist for four points. Both
Carson Giordano and
Sydney Bracken put up two goals to round out the scoring for the Royals.
The opening five minutes of the game saw both teams test one another out, tactically trying to expose any weakness. Lenoir-Rhyne struck first jumping out to an early 2-0 lead. It would not take the Royals long to land a counter strike as Blanchard knifed through the Bears defense for her first goal. This goal would spark an amazing run lasting the remainder of the half. Queens would shut the door on the Bears and not allow another goal in the opening frame. The Royals produced 14 unanswered goals and seemed to be on cruise control as everything was clicking offensively. Queens also cashed in on three extra-man opportunities while not receiving a single card. The Royals went into the locker room with a commanding 14-2 lead.
Lenoir-Rhyne came out swinging in the second half and scored the first goal. However, Queens squashed any hope of a miraculous comeback with two quick goals to extend their lead to 16-3. The Royals were once again able to manufacture a stifling stretch of play yielding four unanswered goals across a 15-minute period. Perrett's fifth and final goal of the game with under two minutes to play put the cherry on top of a stellar 21-5 victory.
Queens proved too much to handle in all departments of the game not only winning in comfortable fashion but also dominating the stat sheet. The Royals outshot the Bears a whopping 43-6. Queens' defense was also relentless all day forcing 28 Lenoir-Rhyne turnovers while the Royals' offense only committed 17 of their own. For the second week in a row, the Royals were perfect clearing the ball going an immaculate 14-14. Lenoir-Rhyne did not find similar success finishing the day 9-22 for a 40 percent success rate.
Additionally, Queens was able to control long periods of the game with fantastic play at the draw winning 19-28, and they came up with 35 groundballs as compared to the Bears 18.
The Queens Royals are back in action Wednesday, March 24 as they host South Atlantic Conference opponent Coker. The meeting with the Cobras is set for a 7 p.m. start.
