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Royals Rule in Win Over Panthers

Panthers head coach McKenzie Rafferty. Donny Rieber Jr | Sports Lowdown

Queens College had their offense running on all cylinders Sunday, as they rolled to an easy 18-5 victory over Florida Tech in a regional women’s lacrosse game at Florida Tech Panther Stadium.

Panthers coach McKenzie Rafferty’s frustration was written all over her face and as you would expect, she wanted to forget this one in a hurry.

When asked if Queens did anything that caught her team off guard, or surprised them, she said simply, “Nope, not at all. Nothing.”

Florida Tech (2-3) struggled in every facet of the game today, including turning the ball over 23 times, with the majority coming in the offensive zone in the first half. They committed 15 in the first 30 minutes.

The Panthers were outshot in this game 34 to 19. Queens goalie Sara Mitrecic made 10 saves, while Chloe Zador faced a firestorm all day in her 11 save effort.

Hannah Scott and Ally Blood led the Royals’ offensive onslaught with four goals each. Katie Wardle, Rachel Perrett, and Kara Blanchard all registered hat tricks for the visitors.

Blood got the scoring started 3:35 in and after Blanchard made it 2-0, Blood struck again with 9:40 gone, making it a 3-0 game.  

Sam Schiano got the Panthers on the board with her 14th of the season with 18:15 to go in the half. Scott and Wardle would answer, giving the visitors a 5-1 lead, with 15:58 to go.

After Leah Dunn scored a man-up goal to cut the deficit to three, the Royals were relentless. They went on a seven-goal run to end the first half, including Perrett’s hat trick that included goals about a minute apart. She scored all three in the span of six and a half minutes.

Blood’s fourth of the day came with 2:03 left in the half, and gave the Royals a 12-2 lead, setting the running clock in motion.

Queens (2-1) would take that 12-2 lead into the break and they kept coming in the second half. Scott, Katie Miller, and Wardle scored to make it 15-2 before Cristina Mariani scored her first of the season on a nice feed from Dunn.

After Blanchard made it 16-3, Alexis Townsend netted her eighth of the year for the Panthers with 10:11 left in the contest. Goals by Wardle and Scott made it 18-4 before Aleah Fjelstad got the final goal of the night with 1:19 left.

“It’s just one game, nothing we can do about it now,” said Rafferty. “Just looking into the future.”

For more info: Queens College @ Florida Tech Box Score 

Florida Tech won’t have long to dwell on this one, which is probably a good thing. They will be back in action Wednesday at Panther Stadium, hosting the Lee Flames. The opening draw is set for 5:00 p.m.