CHARLOTTE, N.C. – No. 8/7 Clemson (3-1, 0-1 ACC) claimed its 40th win in program history after taking a 24-5 victory over Queens (0-3) in Charlotte, N.C. on Tuesday afternoon. The Tigers got off to a slow start but two straight goals at the end of the first quarter gave Clemson a one-goal advantage. A huge second quarter allowed the Tigers to amass a 16-4 halftime lead before cruising through the second half to wrap up a 24-5 win.
Clemson set a team record for most assists in a single game as 17 of the team’s 24 goals came off an assist. Freshman attack Alexa Spallina recorded seven assists, falling shy of her own single-game record of 10. Three different Clemson players recorded multiple assists and four Tigers had one.
Twelve different Tigers registered goals and four players scored hat tricks in Clemson’s third largest offensive output in program history. Freshman midfielder Aubrie Eisfeld and junior attack Regan Byrne led the way for the Tigers, scoring four goals apiece. Sophomore attack Brooke Goldstein and junior midfielder Natalie Shurtleff had three each. Junior attack Anna Brown and freshman midfield Ella Pauley each added two of their own. Rounding out the Tigers scoring barrage, Spallina, Bridget Babcock, Teagan Scott, Mikaela Mooney, Caitlin McElwee and Marleigh O’Day had one each.
FIRST QUARTER | 5-4, CLEMSON
Queens opened the scoring with a free position goal four minutes into the game but the Tigers would respond quickly. The first goal of the day came from the stick of Goldstein off Spallina’s first assist of the day. Clemson went on to score the next two to stretch its lead to 3-1 but Queens answered with the next three. Babcock and Spallina answered with goals in the final three minutes of the quarter to give Clemson a 5-4 lead.
SECOND QUARTER | 16-4, CLEMSON
In the second, Clemson scored early and often. Less than a minute into the quarter, Shurtleff netted her second of the afternoon to double the Tigers’ lead. Seven Tigers combined to score 10 more over the rest of the quarter, ending the half on a 13-0 run and going to the locker room with a comfortable 12-goal cushion.
THIRD QUARTER | 22-4, CLEMSON
With a running clock, Pauley started the scoring in the third, finding the back of the cage for the second time on the afternoon. Byrne followed that with her third of the day. O’Day netted her first career goal with the Tigers playing the advantage. The Tigers went down a woman, but that would not matter to Byrne, who scored the Tigers’ fourth of the quarter and her fourth of the day. Goldstein and Eisfeld closed the quarter with two more goals and Clemson took a 22-4 lead into the fourth.
FOURTH QUARTER | 24-5 CLEMSON
McElwee opened the scoring in the fourth with her first goal in a Clemson uniform to stretch the lead to 19 and less than two minutes later, Brown put the Tigers ahead 20 with her second of the afternoon. Queens would add one later as Clemson wrapped up a 24-5 victory in its first road test of the year.
STATS RECAP
UP NEXT
The Tigers will face No. 10/12 Florida on Saturday, Feb. 21 in a neutral site game in Milton, Ga.
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