Blood Post-game Interview

SALEM, Va. –  The top-seeded Queens University of Charlotte Royals will play for a National Championship for the first time in program history after defeating East Stroudsburg University (12-4), 17-14, in the NCAA DII Women's Lacrosse National Semifinals. With the win, the Royals remain hot extending their win streak to a nation-leading 12 games and improving their overall record to a stellar 14-1.
 
Leading the charge in the team's first-ever National Championship Final berth was Ally Blood who did a little bit of everything for Queens this afternoon. Blood, who finished with a total of eight points, was perfectly balanced ending the day with four goals and four assists. Blood's four goals were impressive but what was more captivating was her vision as she continuously found open teammates. Shannon Donovan and Rachel Perrett both had four points, Donovan doing so with four goals and Perrett completing the hat trick and adding an assist. Kara Blanchard contributed with three points on a goal and two assists. Shannon Kingston scored twice, and Carson Giordano had a goal and an assist to round out the Royals' scoring.
 
Queens did not waste time as they came flying out of the starting gate and took a two-goal lead just two minutes into play. East Stroudsburg did not take long to answer back as the game was tied less than a minute later. The tie would be just the first of seven in the period. The Royals broke the deadlock with a Perrett goal, but the Warriors were quick to respond. Two goals by East Stroudsburg's Emily Mitarotonda in 33 seconds gave the Warriors their first lead of the game 4-3. The next two minutes of the game saw a frenzy of offensive output as the two teams scored three times and Queens tied the game at 5-5. The game slowed down afterward as only two goals were scored during the next 10 minutes, one by each team. The Royals then outscored the Warriors 3-2 in the final five minutes of the back-and-forth half to take a 9-8 lead into the break.
 
In the second half, Queens scored three unanswered goals in a minute to take their largest lead of the day, 12-8. The four-goal cushion allowed the Royals to keep East Stroudsburg at bay as the game fell back into its seesaw pattern. The Warriors' Mitarotonda was once again there to stop the bleeding with a goal, but East Stroudsburg could not slow down the surging Royals attack. East Stroudsburg was able to score back-to-back goals twice in the final 20 minutes cutting the margin to two, but Queens had an answer each time to keep control of the game. A man-up goal from Blood with three seconds left in regulation would be the icing on the cake as the Royals secured their first national semifinal win in history.  
 
Queens outshot the Warriors 34-32 and totaled 20 ground balls to East Stroudsburg's 15. Additionally, the Royals went 14-16 clearing the ball for an 88 percent success rate while East Stroudsburg finished the day 13-20 clearing the ball for a 65 percent success rate. In the circle, East Stroudsburg won 18 draw controls compared to Queens' 15.
 
In goal, Sara Mitrecic collected the win after recording eight saves. Additionally, Grace Guglielmo finished play with four of Queens' 13 caused turnovers on the defensive end.
 
Queens will play the winner of Lindenwood versus Robert Wesleyan on Sunday, May 23 at 2 p.m. for the National Championship.