BELMONT, N.C. – Queens men's lacrosse held off a late Belmont Abbey charge to pick up an 11-10 win and improve to 2-0 (2-1) in the Conference Carolinas Wednesday night.

For the third time this season, the Royals were the first team on the board, as Alex Wesenberg (Bloominton, Minn., Jefferson) scored to take a 1-0 lead less than two minutes in. Five minutes later, Brian Rose (Stony Point, N.Y., North Rockland) tallied his team-leading fifth goal to take a two-goal advantage. The Crusaders (1-2, 0-1) would answer with three consecutive goals, led by a pair from Brendan Rogers, to take a 3-2 lead at 3:52. With 2:06 remaining in the first quarter, T.C. Whaley (Carlsbad, Calif., La Costa Canyon) tied Rose for the team lead with his fifth goal to even the game. Thirty-three seconds later, Travis Speer (Newtown, Conn., Newtown) netted his first goal of the season to give the Royals a 4-3 advantage at the end of the first.

The teams split the second quarter, scoring a pair of goals apiece. The Crusaders' Dan Morrissey struck first; scoring 28 seconds after Matthew Dolan (Hopkinton, Mass., Hopkinton) was called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty to give Belmont Abbey a man-advantage. Rose and B.J. Leighton (Apex, NC, Apex) scored a pair less than two minutes apart before taking a 6-5 lead into the break.

The Royals extended their lead to three after Matthew Michael (Easton, Pa., Easton) and Leighton scored a pair of goals 54 seconds apart to put Queens up 8-5 with 11:52 remaining. The Crusaders' Tanner Scharr cut the lead to two, but Joe Taylor (Aurburn, N.Y., Auburn) took the ensuing faceoff to the net to regain the three-goal advantage. With 4:47 remaining, Nick Boylan notched his second goal of the game to come within two at the end of the quarter.

Jimmy Baker (Prince Fredrick, Md., Calverton) got the fourth started with his second goal of the season. Trailing 7-10 with eight minutes remaining, Belmont Abbey wasn't out of it yet. A Corey Geroy (Horseheads, N.Y., Horseheads) illegal procedure penalty opened the door for a Ryan Corrigan man-advantage goal to make it 9-11 at 4:03. With 1:41 on the clock, a Joey Peruzzi slashing penalty seemed to put an end to the comeback. But a Baker turnover led to a Josiah Nash shorthanded goal with 1:07 remaining to make it a one-goal game. After winning the subsequent faceoff, the Crusaders called their final timeout with 59 ticks remaining. As the clock wound down, the Crusaders waited for an opening for their final shot. Taking the shot, Corrigan came up short as Brandon Macknew pulled in his 14th save of the game to seal the victory for the Royals.

The Royals return to the field Saturday at 2 pm when they welcome No. 11 Catawba (3-0) to The Queens Sports Complex.