CHARLOTTE, N.C.- The No. 12 Queens Royals fell to the fifth-ranked Lenoir-Rhyne Bears 15-7 at home this evening in a South Atlantic Conference matchup. The Royals move to 3-3 on the year with the loss and 3-1 in conference.
 
The Royals attack trio created the majority of offensive chances but were unable to keep pace with the Bears. Quinn Tallant led the way for Queens producing a balanced four points on two goals and a pair of assists. Kealan Pilon added three points with two goals and an assist. Tyler Ewen ended the day with a goal and an assist and Dylan Boyer finished with two goals to round out the Royals scoring on the day. Kyle Hornik had another fantastic performance in between the pipes recording 21 saves.
 
The opening nine minutes of the game saw both defenses remain compact and rotate with fluidity to limit opportunities. Only one goal was scored in this time as Lenoir-Rhyne held onto an early 1-0 lead. Queens drew level when Pilon finished a fantastic feed from Tallant with just under six to play. The Royals seized some early momentum as Ewen scored with 26 seconds in the quarter to take a 2-1 lead after one.
 
Queens built off Ewen's late quarter goal and scored another in the first two minutes of the second quarter to add to their lead. Unfortunately, that would be the only goal of the quarter for the Royals, as the team would struggle to take care of the ball. Lenoir-Rhyne took full advantage of these extra possessions producing five unanswered goals to close out the half. Queens went into the locker room down 6-3.
 
The defensive units from both sides were able to once again smother and frustrate the offenses as both teams failed to score for the first six minutes. Lenoir-Rhyne struck first with a pair of back-to-back goals not a minute apart to extend the lead to 8-3. Pilon's extra-man goal was the Royals' sole goal in the frame, as the team could not maintain possession committing a staggering 13 turnovers in the quarter. 
 
Queens would find their scoring touch in the fourth quarter manufacturing three goals. However, this would prove to be not enough as the Bears would close out the game on a four-goal run.
 
The Royals were outshot on the day 50-35 and had continuous trouble hitting the net, only doing so 14 times. Queens was unable to limit turnovers committing 24 on the day as Lenoir-Rhyne had 17. The Royals were able to clear the play with regularity doing so 18-22 for an 81 percent success rate. The Bears finished the day going 18-24 for a 75 percent success rate. Queens battled on the ground coming up with 20 ground balls and going 11-26 at the face-off X. The Royals held Lenoir-Rhyne to just 1-5 on extra-man opportunities.
 
The Queens Royals are back in action Wednesday, March 24 as they welcome South Atlantic Conference opponent Coker. The meeting with the Cobras is set for a 4 p.m. start.