CHARLOTTE, N.C. --- Six different players scored at least three goals to lead Queens University of Charlotte to a 24-11 victory over Tusculum College in South Atlantic Conference Women's lacrosse action Saturday afternoon.
Kelly Dowd had five goals while Alexandra Bruder had four goals and an assist for the 15th-ranked Royals (8-2, 5-0 SAC). Hanna Scott, Abigail Paulus, Shannon Mansberger and Brittany Larranaga all had three goals apiece for the Royals, with Scott dishing out four assists and Paulus three.
The Pioneers (8-4, 3-3 SAC) were led by Madison Malone who had three goals and two assists. Hayley Bartlett had three goals and an assist, while Cheyenne Bray tallied two goals and Kelsey Crow, Savannah Elliott and Rachel Holmes scored once apiece.
After Mansberger and Bray exchanged goals in the first three minutes, Queens got two goals from Dowd and three in a row from Larranaga to go ahead 6-1 with 20:18 left in the first half. Crow scored 25 seconds after Larranaga's third goal to pull the Pioneers within 6-2, but Bruder and Mansberger responded to push the Royals ahead 8-2 with 14:41 to go in the half.
Tusculum scored four of the next five goals, with two from Bartlett and one each by Malone and Bray, to pull within 9-6 with 8:03 left in the first half, but the Royals scored the final four goals over a span of five minutes to take a 13-6 lead into halftime. Queens outshot Tusculum 20-8 in the first half, and were led by three goals each from Dowd, Larranaga and Bruder.
Queens extended their lead to 15-6 on goals by Dowd and Scott early in the second half, but the Pioneers responded quickly as Malone scored twice and Bartlett once to pull Tusculum back within 15-9 with 21:11 to go. However, the Royals would score nine of the final 11 goals, with tallies from Elliott and Holmes providing the only offense for the Pioneers over the final 13 minutes.
Malone led the Pioneers with six draw controls and had two ground balls and a caused turnover, while Bray had four draw controls. Calyn Kelly led the Pioneers with three ground balls and four caused turnovers in the game.
For the Royals, Dowd had eight draw controls while Larranaga had six draw controls and a pair of ground balls. As a team, Queens had a 21-15 edge in draw controls and a 13-10 advantage in ground balls, while finishing with 36 shots to 15 by Tusculum.
Kaele Lawless came in to play goal for Tusculum early in the first half and made four saves, while Kaitlin Winnie entered midway through the second half and had one stop. Christine Wiese played nearly 44 minutes in goal for the Royals and had two saves, with Abigail Rogan playing the final 16 minutes.
The Pioneers return home to play Coker on Saturday, April 9 at noon at Pioneer Field.
- TC -
