Pioneers fall to 15th-ranked Queens, Cusano reaches 100 career points

Pioneers fall to 15th-ranked Queens, Cusano reaches 100 career points

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Rachel Perrett scored a game-high five goals to lead 15th-ranked Queens University of Charlotte to a 24-5 win over Tusculum University in South Atlantic Conference women's lacrosse action Saturday afternoon at Pioneer Field.

Perrett scored the first and last goals for the Royals (8-2, 3-0 SAC), who outshot the Pioneers 40-12 and held Tusculum to just one goal in the final 27 1/2 minutes of the match. Katie Wardle, Allison Conn, Kara Blanchard and Ally Blood all scored three goals apiece for the Royals, while Taylor Quade and Carson Giordano each had a goal and three assists.

Juliette Cusano led the Pioneers (2-8, 0-2 SAC) with four goals and in the process became the sixth player in program history to reach 100 career points. Cusano has 89 goals and 13 assists for 102 points in her Pioneer career.

Queens bolted to a 3-0 lead after 3 1/2 minutes before Cusano got Tusculum on the board with 24:42 left in the first quarter. After a goal by Blood gave the Royals a 4-1 lead, Emily Youngblood took a pass from Eliza Ryan and scored just 33 seconds later to cut the Queens lead to 4-2 with 23:11 left in the half.

Queens then rattled off six consecutive goals to go up 10-2 following a Conn goal with 15:54 left in the first half. Cusano's second goal of the afternoon and her 100th career point came with 14:11 to go, but three in a row from the Royals extended their lead to 13-3 with 10:31 left in the half. Cusano scored again with 7:29 left in the half, but two goals from Conn in the final six minutes gave Queens a 15-4 lead at halftime.

In the second half, the Royals scored eight unanswered goals until Cusano netted her fourth of the day with 4:03 left. Perrett closed out the scoring with her fifth of the contest with 1:57 to play.

Queens had a 21-12 advantage in ground balls, led by Giordano with five and Kyleigh Masteran with four. Youngblood and goalkeeper Kate Pipkin shared the lead in ground balls with three apiece for the Pioneers. The Royals also held a 23-8 edge in draw controls, led by Conn with eight and six by Sydney Bracken, while Youngblood had a team-best five for the Pioneers.

Tusculum turned the ball over 15 times and was 9-for-17 on clears, while Queens was a perfect 12-for-12 on clears and had 11 turnovers. Giordano led the Royals with two caused turnovers, while Meaghan Smith and Hailey Sanders had two apiece for the Pioneers.

Pipkin played all 60 minutes in goal for the Pioneers and had nine saves, while Chase Brokaw started for Queens and had one save in 23 minutes. Sara Mitrecic came on for Brokaw late in the first half and made three saves while allowing just one goal.

Tusculum will return to action next Saturday at noon as Newberry visits for a SAC contest.