ST. CHARLES, Mo.—The Bellarmine field hockey team concluded its trip to St. Charles, Missouri with a disappointing 6-3 loss to Queens (N.C.) in a non-conference game played at Hunter Stadium on the campus of Lindenwood University.

The Knights won the battle of the statistics, but lost the war of the scoreboard. Bellarmine owned a 17-14 advantage in shots, and they got more of the shots on frame (11-9), but the Royals came up with eight saves to just three for the Knights.

Freshman Mandi Isom netted two of Bellarmine's three goals with fellow newcomer Mariana Flores Gutierrez tallying the other score.  April Paulson had BU's only assist in the game.

Bellarmine Coach Mark Blankenbaker said lapses on the defensive end doomed the Knights.  "Our marking (on defense) was poor, outlet decisions hurts us several times, and our recovery to the defensive end was not good," he said. "All those factors led to six goals, and for a team struggling on the offensive end, that can't happen."

On the offensive end, Blankenbaker said the team showed improvement but lost opportunities in front of the goal.  "Mandi did a great job of trying to carry the offense and scored two critical goals," he said. "Mariana's goal was effort and hard work.  I was happy to see that type of effort to finish the play."

Bellarmine falls to 2-6 overall while Queens improves to 2-5. 

The Knights return to action on Friday against ECAC foe Belmont Abbey.  It will be the first of three consecutive games on the road with a game at Newberry on Saturday and a rematch with Queens on Sunday.

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