CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Lincoln Memorial women's lacrosse team (6-1, 1-0 SAC) will face its toughest test of the season when it travels to Charlotte, N.C. for a Saturday afternoon match against No. 18 Queens University (4-2, 0-0 SAC). 
 
The Lady Railsplitters are riding a six-game winning streak, with their only loss coming in the opening game of the season at Young Harris 16-5. Queens is a traditional South Atlantic Conference powerhouse in lacrosse and is opening SAC play after playing three nationally ranked opponents in its first six games.
 
"Their record may not indicate it, but they are a very good team," Head Coach Caitlyn Corace said. "They are very, very competitive and have played a really tough schedule. They lost to the number three team in the nation, Florida Southern, 14-12. We have to be ready."
 
In addition to playing Florida Southern close, the Royals played early-season No. 19 ranked University of Tampa and a tough 15th-ranked Florida Tech squad. Queens lost 18-15 at Tampa and beat Florida Tech 18-5 in Melbourne, Fla.
 
LMU is coming off an impressive 18-6 win Wednesday against Lee University. The Lady Railsplitters have mixed a balanced scoring attack and stingy defense to propel them to a program-record six-game winning streak.
 
Erin DePaul has had the hot hand for LMU, pouring in 25 goals, followed by midfielder Amara Moss with 19 tallies. Kelly Csenar has 17 goals, Casey Kelly has 11 and Melanie Cascio and Kennedy Buechner have eight each to pace the offensive attack. On defense, goalie Micayla Starnes is yielding only 9.71 goals per game.
 
"After our game Wednesday, I told the girls we have a short turnaround and have to focus on Queens," Corace said. "We practice on Thursday and travel on Friday. They are excited to be playing another conference game and just need to buckle down."
 
Queens was the SAC Tournament champions last year, going 7-1 in SAC play and beating Lenoir-Rhyne in the championship game. The Royals beat LMU in Harrogate last year 21-3.
 
"We've been doing a really good job of sharing the ball," Corace said. "If Queens doubles on one of our scorers it's about stepping up and sharing the ball. We really need to stay spread out and look for our cutters and play very smart. Queens will capitalize on any mistake."
 
On defense, LMU has to stop a potent Queens attack led by Kara Blanchard with 16 goals and Rachel Perrett with 12. Queens has three other players with at least 11 goals each.
 
"They get points from a lot of people just like us. They have four or five girls that share the scoring," Corace said. "I don't think any one player is super dominant.
 
"Playing Queens this year is not as imposing," Corace added. "Part of building a program is learning how to win and I think that process is now coming together. Now we need to learn to win against teams that are very competitive or at least learn to compete against these teams. We have to be mentally focused and mentally prepared for these big games."
 
The Lady Railsplitters get underway at Queens at 1 p.m. on Saturday. Live stats are available at www.lmurailsplitters.com.