CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Queens University of Charlotte men's lacrosse team, seeded fourth in the
South Atlantic Conference Men's Lacrosse Championships, is scheduled to face top-seeded Lenoir-Rhyne University on Friday, April 27 at 11 a.m. in Wingate, N.C., in the semifinal round of the Championships.
The Royals reached their fifth straight SAC semifinal game after defeating Catawba College, 21-12, at home in the quarterfinal round of the Championships on Tuesday night. Kevin Barry led Queens with five points on four goals and one assist while
Laszlo Henning added three goals. Justin Metzger totaled three points on two goals and one assist, and
Reed Murphy recorded one goal and two assists for three points as well.
Eric Fitz and Tariek Haris chipped in with two goals apiece.
Anthony Valenza took the win in goal after totaling 10 saves in 49:13 while
Kyle Hornik tallied two saves in 10:47.
The nationally third-ranked Bears received a first-round bye in the Championships after going undefeated in SAC play to win the SAC Regular Season title. A 15-7 win over Coker solidified their undefeated record in conference play on Saturday, April 21. Ben Corrigan and Myles Moffat both recorded hat tricks in the victory.
Lenoir-Rhyne took the regular season meeting between the pair winning 24-8 over the Royals.
Justin Swick led Queens with a hat trick and one assist while Murphy totaled two goals and one assist. The Bears were led by Joe Buduo who totaled eight goals while Corrigan added four goals and three assists.
Barry leads the Royals this season with 30 points on 21 goals and nine assists. Both Swick (20 goals, 8 assists) and Murphy (18 goals, 10 assists) have 28 points each while Kealan Pilon (16 goals, 9 assists) has 25 points. Quinn Tallant,
Jesse Oliver, and
Eric Fitz follow with 17, 16, and 15 goals, respectively.
Anthony Valenza has started in 13-of-14 games for Queens' to record 128 saves with a .533 save percentage.
Buduo leads Lenoir-Rhyne with 80 points this season after totaling 55 goals and 25 assists. Corrigan trails with 60 points on 34 goals and 26 assists. Myles Moffat has 52 points and Eric Dickinson has 44 points.
The battle at the faceoff will be between two of the top faceoff specialist in the SAC.
Drew Flack has won 194-of-315 faceoffs to record a .616 winning percentage while Shane Gottberg of the Bears has won 202-of-333 faceoffs to record a .607 winning percentage in the circle.
The Royals and the Bears met in last year's semifinals as well, and despite Queens falling 17-8 during the regular season they topped the Lenoir-Rhyne, 10-9, in overtime to advance to the Championship finals for the third time in four years. Queens currently leads in the all-time series with the Bears, 7-5.
Tomorrow's game will take place at Graham Gill Field on the campus of Wingate University. Both the semifinals and finals of the Championships will be hosted by Wingate University. The men's championship final is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Sunday, April 29.
