Royal Scores Six Times in Loss

Davenport, Iowa–The William Penn women’s lacrosse team narrowly missed upsetting the St. Ambrose Fighting Bees, falling 15-13 on Tuesday.

The first quarter ended in a 3-3 deadlock. The hosts opened with the first two scores of the game, but a trio of Statesmen helped send the game to the second quarter tied. Bailee Royal (Jr., Hallsville, Texas, Sports Management) put the Statesmen on the board, and Victoria Negron (So., Miami, Fla., Exercise Science) followed suit with a free position goal. MacKenzie Petersen (Jr., Albertville, Minn., Public Accounting) tacked on the third score of the opening frame.

William Penn had a huge second quarter, as Royal scored a trio of goals in a span of just over three minutes to open the quarter. Ashlyn Hoffman (So., Bend, Ore., Nursing) cashed in on a free position opportunity later on, and Emily Ferguson (So., Waterloo, N.Y., Exercise Science) tacked on another. Petersen once again had the final goal of the quarter, and a 6-0 run in the quarter sent the Statesmen into halftime with a 9-3 lead. After the first 30 minutes, Madison Reed (Jr., Shakopee, Minn., Secondary Education) had earned nine saves.

Unfortunately, the hosts came out hot to begin the second half, and they used their own 6-0 quarter to even the score at nine entering the final frame. The host kept their momentum through the quarter-break, scoring the first three goals of the fourth. Royal responded with another score, but St. Ambrose tacked on two more. The late deficit was too much to overcome as WPU fell by just two scores.

Royal had a huge game, scoring six times and winning two draw controls. Petersen was also very productive with three scores and six draw controls, while Hoffman added two goals. Reed finished the game with 13 saves.

What’s Next: The Statesmen are back in action on Saturday for a non-conference matchup with Wisconsin-Eau Claire. The game is scheduled to begin at 5 PM.