CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The 11th-ranked Queens men's lacrosse team couldn't ralley back from a late run by No. 6 Dowling, falling in their season open 14-8 at Queens Sports Complex Sunday afternoon.

The Royals jumped out to a quick start as Joe Taylor (Aurburn, N.Y., Auburn) won the first draw of the season and took it down the field for a quick goal at 14:54 to give Queens its first lead of the year. It didn't take long for the Golden Lions to respond – Brendan Hayes tallied his first goal of the season less than 50 seconds later to knot it at one apiece. T.C. Whaley (Carlsbad, Calif., La Costa Canyon) hit the back of the net at the 12:42 mark, but the Royals couldn't maintain the lead, surrendering a pair of goals to end the first quarter trailing 2-3.

The action slowed down in the second quarter, seeing just a pair of goals – one by each team – leading into halftime with the Royals down 3-4.

Coming out of the break, the Golden Lions quickly picked up a pair of goals to increase their lead to 6-3. With a three-goal advantage, Dowling appeared to lose their composure, picking up six penalties in a five-minute stretch, including a pair of unsportsmanlike conduct flags. With 7:35 remaining, Alex Warehime (Millersville, Md., Old Mill ) took advantage and scored his second goal of the game to bring the Royals back within one at 5-6. But it was no match for Dowling's Vito Demola, who tallied three of his game-high seven goals in the period to go into the fourth quarter with a 9-6 lead.

Demola continued to haunt the Royals, tagging a pair of goals in the first five minutes of the fourth quarter to stretch the cushion to five goals. Brian Rose (Stony Point, N.Y., North Rockland) was able to tally a pair of goals to complete a hat trick, but the Royals were unable to catch Dowling down the stretch.

The Royals return to action Saturday afternoon when they host Lees-McRae (0-2, 0-1 Conference Carolinas) at 2:30.