CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Despite a hard fought battle, the Newberry men’s lacrosse team fell to the No. 12 Queens Royals, 16-12, in Charlotte March 5.
Newberry has now lost two in a row and fell to 2-2 (0-1 SAC).
Newberry found themselves in an early, 2-0, hole five minutes into the contest. Junior Brock Strong opened up scoring for the Wolves at the 9:56 mark in the first, followed by a goal from Junior Caleb Forga to even the score at two just a minute later.
Junior Curtis Bukta scored his first of three goals on the day to put the Wolves up, 3-2, midway through the first, but the Royals went on to score three straight goals to head into the second quarter with a 5-3 advantage.
The Royals scored another goal at the top of the second before Sophomore Mac Ryan tallied two straight goals a minute apart to cut the deficit back to one, 6-5. The teams traded goals for a well-balanced second quarter to send both squads into the halftime break notched at 9-9.
Queens opened the second half with a goal which was answered by Bukta’s second of the day to even the score back at 10. Junior Scott Reed gave the Wolves an 11-10 lead at the 5:04 mark in the third, but the Royals responded less than a minute later with a goal to tie it at 11.
QU outscored the Wolves, 5-1 in the fourth quarter to go on to secure the 16-12 victory at home.
Mac Ryan (3), Scott Reed (3), Curtis Bukta (3), Caleb Forga (1), Baker Westmoreland (1), Brock Strong (1) all recorded goals on the day for the Wolves.