HICKORY, N.C.  – The Queens University of Charlotte men's lacrosse team hit the road this evening to face No. 3 Lenoir-Rhyne University falling 23-8 to the Bears. The Royals now sit 2-5 on the year and 0-2 in South Atlantic Conference play while Lenoir-Rhyne moves to 9-1 on the year and 3-0 in the league.
 
Justin Swick led Queens with a hat trick and one assist while Reed Murphy totaled two goals and one assist. Kealan Pilon, Jesse Oliver, and Eric Fitz scored the remaining three goals for the Royals. Jake Coleman led the way on the defensive end recording four caused turnovers and four ground balls. David Byrne totaled six ground balls while Zac Bruso totaled five ground balls.
 
A goal from Murphy of Queens at 9:46 in the first quarter would be the first goal scored of the night before the Bears reeled off six straight to take a 6-1 lead heading into the second quarter. Lenoir-Rhyne then went on to score eight more goals in the second quarter while the Royals found the back of the net twice to give the game a 14-3 score at the halftime break.
 
Lenoir-Rhyne's offense slowed down a bit in the third putting just three additional points on the board as Queens' Murphy and Oliver scored a pair for the Royals to make it 17-5 going into the final 15 minutes of action. In the fourth, Queens would score three additional goals, however, the Bears would close the game adding seven to their total to grab the 15-point win.
 
Queens was outshot, 56-39, putting 23 shots on goal to the Bears' 36 shots on frame. The Royals also lost the battle for ground balls, 36-25, but won 16-of-34 face-offs with Drew Flack winning 15-of-27.
 
Joe Buduo led the Bears with eight goals tonight while Ben Corrigan totaled four goals and three assists. Quinn Kuhn and Eric Dickinson each added two goals. Ryan Crompton picked up the win in goal after recording 12 saves.
 
Queens is back at home on Saturday, Mar. 24 against Tusculum College. The Royals fell 12-9 to the Pioneers last season. The first face-off is scheduled for 4 p.m.