FLUSHING, N.Y. (Mar. 12, 2019) - The Queens College women's lacrosse team scored 17 goals in their contest on Tuesday (Mar. 12) with Caldwell University, but it was the Cougars who ended up spoiling the Knights' home opener by claiming a 21-17 win at Knights Field in Flushing.

Queens (0-3) fell behind in the contest early as Caldwell (1-1) roared out of the gate with a four-goal start in the opening seven minutes of action. The Knights responded in kind following a timeout as Patriece Ausili scored the team's first goal of the contest which was followed by strikes by Maggie Iavarone, Sarah Koehler and Lauren Gentile. A back-and-forth ensued with Caldwell hitting the back of the net three times in a row, before Ausili notched a hat trick with back-to-back markers. The teams traded a goal to reach an 8-7 score with Caldwell leading as the clock passed ten minutes to go in the opening frame; the visitors ran off seven of the next eight goals, however, to take a 15-8 lead into the halftime break.

Following a seven-minute lull in scoring to commence the second half of play, Shannon Gibbons fired her first goal of the season into the cage to bring QC within a 15-9 deficit. Koehler tallied another marker to bring the Knights within five with just under 18 minutes left in regulation and the Knights forged their way back into the contest further. After a goal by Caldwell's Jenna Steelman gave the Cougars a 16-10 lead at the mid-point of the half, the Knights had three goals from Koehler, Gibbons and Chloe Herzog to push back within a three-goal deficit but a five-goal spurt by Caldwell doomed Queens to its defeat.

Koehler led the Knights with four goals on the day and tied with Iavarone for the team-high with six points in total. Iavarone had a hat trick and three assists as Ausili and Herzog also contributed hat tricks on the afternoon. Gibbons and Gentile added two goals apiece for the Knights, as the team dominated the draw circle (27-12 on draw controls) but could not utilize that advantage to take down Caldwell on the defensive side of the ball. Koehler won 15 of those draw controls, the most won by a Knight since Heather Rosen's 17 draws against Saint Thomas Aquinas in the program's debut season of 2010. Ausili won seven draws, Iavarone had four ground balls and four caused turnovers and Nicole Cutrone also scooped up four ground balls in the loss. Jess Serpe played an outstanding second half in the cage for the Knights, finishing the game with 12 saves.

Queens will be in action on Saturday (Mar. 16) as the Knights travel to Rochester to face East Coast Conference foe Roberts Wesleyan at 1 p.m.