SALISBURY, N.C. – The 10
th-ranked Queens University of Charlotte men's lacrosse team suffered its first South Atlantic Conference loss this afternoon at No. 19 Catawba falling 13-12 to the Indians. The loss snaps the Royals' eight-game win streak and drops their record to 11-2 on the year and 6-1 in the SAC.
After leading 3-2 at the close of the first quarter, Queens found itself trailing the Indians 8-5 at the halftime break thanks to a 5-0 run by Catawba in the second quarter that helped the Indians outscore the Royals 6-2 in the period.
In the third quarter, the Royals used a 3-0 run to help them close the gap to one, 9-8, with 8:47 to play. However, three consecutive goals by the Indians followed extending their lead to four, 12-8. Catawba eventually took a 13-10 lead into the fourth where the Royals were only able to find the back of the net twice more falling just short of keeping their win streak alive.
Quinn Tallant recorded a hat trick to lead Queens while
Reed Murphy added two goals.
David Byrne totaled three points on one goal and two assists and
Kealan Pilon dished out three assists.
Griffin Stechmiller led defensively with eight ground balls and two caused turnovers. The defender also tallied a goal.
The Royals outshot Catawba 42-32, putting 28 shots on goal compared to the Indians' 17 shots on frame. Additionally, Queens won the battle for ground balls 35-26 but only won 9-of-28 face-offs.
Catawba was led by Cole Fanzo who recorded five goals. Robert Morrison and Christian Norrie add four points each with two goals and two assists. In goal, Kevin Geiger picked up the win after recording 16 saves.
Today's loss to Catawba is just the second since the Royals joined the SAC. The first came during the 2014 season which is also the one year that the Royals made an appearance in the NCAA DII Men's Lacrosse Championships.
Queens will return home to Dickson Field to close the regular season against Wingate University on Saturday, April 20. The Senior Day game is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m.
