Charlotte, N.C.----The Queens University of Charlotte Royals used a huge 5-0 run early in the third quarter to take a 9-8 comeback victory over visiting 15th-ranked Wingate University in South Atlantic Conference men's lacrosse action from the Queens Sports Complex in Charlotte. The Royals trailed 4-1 at the 14:09 mark of the second quarter before rallying with five unanswered goals to take a 6-4 lead which they did not surrender.
 
Wingate is now 7-3 overall and 3-2 in the SAC, while Queens improves 6-3 overall and 4-1 in league play. The Wingate Bulldogs return to action Saturday for a SAC road encounter versus Catawba at 7 p.m. Queens travels to Greeneville, Tenn. to face Tusculum on the same day at 3 p.m.
 
WU sophomore attack Alex Llerandi (Marietta, Ga.) and sophomore midfielder Daniel Godwin (Greensboro, N.C.) led the Bulldog scoring efforts with two goals each. The reigning SAC Offensive Player of the Week, Llerandi increased his season goal total to 18 tallies. Godwin now has 14 total scores. Four other Bulldogs had one goal each.
 
For Queens, freshman attack Justin Swick (Easton, Pa.), freshman midfielder Lazlo Henning (Calgary, Alberta) and freshman midfielder Reed Murphy (Saskatoon, Canada) led the Royals with two goals apiece in the contest. Three other Royals posted one tally each.
 
Wingate got on the board first with a goal from Llerandi to grab the early 1-0 advantage 39 seconds into the first quarter of play. A tally from Murphy tied the score at 1-1 three minutes later before the Bulldogs posted three unanswered goals to take a 4-1 lead at the 13:09 mark of the second frame.
 
Queens then quickly gained the momentum, netting back-to-back goals to trail 4-3 heading into the halftime intermission. The Royals tallied three more straight scores to grab the 6-4 advantage three minutes into the third quarter. Queens never trailed for the remainder of the contest.
 
A WU unassisted tally from sophomore midfielder Sean Moran (Lawrence, N.Y.) cut the deficit down to 6-5 with 8:11 to go, but the Royals answered with two consecutive insurance goals to extend the lead out to 8-5.
 
Both teams exchanged goals with Queens leading by a score of 9-6 with 4:42 left in the fourth quarter. Godwin netted back-to-back tallies in a late WU comeback attempt to make it a 9-8 game with 55 seconds left; however, it would not be enough as Queens held on for the upset triumph over nationally-ranked Wingate.
 
Wingate junior goalkeeper Will Sheridan (Woodstock, Ga.) posted 14 saves and took the loss, falling to 6-3 on the season. He went the distance Wednesday. Queens sophomore goalie Anthony Caruso (Easton, Pa.) tallied 12 stops and got the win. He also played the full 60 minutes.
 
Queens outshot Wingate 41-27, while holding the 23-20 edge in shots on goal. Queens also had the 37-20 advantage in ground balls and a 19-2 edge in face-off victories. Queens had 16 turnovers compared to Wingate's 12 mistakes. The Bulldogs tallied two goals on six extra-man chances, while Queens was held to zero tallies on five extra-man opportunities.
 
(Wingate University athletic media relations/sports network student assistant Jackson Kaplan contributed this article. A sophomore from Raleigh, Kaplan is a Communication Studies major at Wingate.)