WINGATE, N.C.  – The fourth-seeded Queens University of Charlotte men's lacrosse team fell 14-7 to top-seeded Lenoir-Rhyne University in the South Atlantic Conference Men's Lacrosse Championships this afternoon at Graham Gill Field on the campus of Wingate University. With the loss, the Royals' 2018 season comes to a close at 9-7. The Bears, currently ranked third in the nation, will move on the Championship finals with a record of 16-1.
 
David Byrne led Queens with three points today after totaling two goals and one assist. Mackenzie Tallant also tallied a pair of goals while Kevin Barry, Reed Murphy, and Quinn Tallant added one goal apiece. Drew Flack won 10-of-23 faceoffs and totaled six ground balls while Anthony Valenza accumulated a career-high 25 saves in goal.
 
After Lenoir-Rhyne's Joe Buduo opened the scoring with a goal at 12:04, Queens' Barry would answer at 8:56 to tie the game. The two teams then traded goals once more in the final five minutes of the quarter to keep the game even at 2-2 heading into the second quarter.
 
Mackenzie Tallant scored the first goal of the second period at 10:45 to give the Royals their first lead of the day, but it was short-lived as the Bears answered with four unanswered goals to take a 6-3 lead at the halftime break.
 
Out of the break, Queens' Reed found the back of the net to cut the margin to two, 6-4, with 13:05 on the clock. However, Lenoir-Rhyne responded with six straight goals to take an eight-point lead into the final 15 minutes of action.
 
The Royals outscored the Bears 3-2 in the final quarter with Byrne's scoring the final two of the day. Unfortunately, the third quarter performance by Lenoir-Rhyne would be too much for the Royals to overcome before the final horn sounded.
 
The Royals were outshot, 54-35, putting 23 shots on goal to Lenoir-Rhyne's 39 shots on frame. The Bears also edged Queens in ground balls, 40-30, and in faceoffs won, 13-12.
 
Eric Dickinson led the Bears with five goals while Buduo finished with a hat trick and one assist. Ryan Crompton recorded the win in goal after totaling 16 saves.