CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Sitting undefeated at 19-0 on the year, No. 1 Queens University of Charlotte is scheduled to begin NCAA Championship play on Friday, May 13 at home in an opening-round game against No. 12 Tampa at 11 a.m.
The Royals, who have topped the national poll for eight straight weeks, earned the No. 1 seed in the South Region for the second straight season and will host the regional championship for the first time in program history. After plowing through the regular season, Queens entered the postseason with a 17-0 record and their seventh South Atlantic Conference Regular-Season Championship. They then went on to win their eighth-straight SAC Championship Tournament title.
Friday's game with Tampa will be the second of the season after the two teams met in the Crown Lacrosse Classic in early March with Queens taking the win, 10-9.
Rebecca Kinsley led the Royals with six points on four goals and two assists while
Kyleigh Masteran added four points with three goals and one assist. Cece Colombo, Brynn Nestor, and Emma McLoughlin each scored twice for the Spartans.
This season, Queens is led by a pair of super seniors in
Rebecca Kinsley and
Kyleigh Masteran. Kinsley, an attacker, totals 122 points on 65 goals and 57 assists while Masteran, a midfielder, has 104 points on 84 goals and 20 assists. During the season, Kinsley set a new single season point record this year while Masteran set a new single-season and program goals record. Kinsley also leads the nation in points and ranks fourth in assists while Masteran ranks second in goals and sixth in points. Additionally, Kinsley ranks second in the nation in points per game averaging 6.42 and sixth in assists per game averaging three.
Kyleigh Masteran is ranked fifth in goals per game averaging 4.42 and 12th in points per game averaging 5.47.
In addition to the two scoring threats mentioned, Queens'
Kaitlyn Hardin,
Shannon Donovan, and
Shannon Kingston follow in goals with 58, 49, and 49, respectively.
Queens' defense is holding teams to just five goals a game.
Grace Guglielmo leads the unit in caused turnovers with 33 and in ground balls with 37. She also ranks second on the team in draw controls this season with 82. Leading the Royals in draw controls is
Sydney Bracken who has 100 on the season.
In goal,
Caroline Kraemer is 11-0 on the season with a save percentage of 50.4 percent while
Sharn Muffett is 8-0 with a save percentage of 51.9 percent.
As a team, Queens has the top-ranked scoring offense in the nation averaging 22.05 goals per game. They also have the top-scoring margin in the nation defeating teams by an average of 17.05 goals. Queens also leads the nation in draw controls per game averaging 20.32 on each outing and their scoring defense ranks first.
Tampa enters as the No. 4 seed after falling to No. 10 Florida Southern, 20-10, in the SSC Tournament Championship. After falling to nationally-ranked, Grand Valley State, Regis, Queens, Lindenwood, and UIndy, the Spartans were able to regroup and go 6-1 in conference play. They earned wins over nationally-ranked Rollins, Embry-Riddle, Lynn, and Saint Leo to earn their spot in the region championship.
They are led by Madison Birch who has 60 points this season on 53 goals and seven assists. Sarah Hinkle has 54 points 48 goals and six assists.
On the defensive end, Dani Waters leads with 44 caused turnovers and 43 ground balls. In goal, Kyli Wankin is 5-0 and Alex Walling is 5-7.
Queens leads the all-time series with the Spartans, 7-1.
Ticket prices for tomorrow's game can be found on the
Championship Information page. Live stats and video will be available for both games on Friday. Game two between second-seeded Florida Southern and third-seeded Wingate will begin at 3 p.m.
Be sure to follow the women's lacrosse team on Twitter @QueensWlax and Instagram @Queensroyalslax to stay up to date with everything surrounding the team. Fans are also encouraged to follow Queens Athletics on all social media platforms by searching @QueensAthletics.
