After opening its season against back-to-back ranked opponents, the Stony Brook men’s lacrosse team had some fun against a less renowned foe.

In a quick turnaround from their last contest, the Seawolves (2-1) remained in North Carolina to face the Queens University of Charlotte Royals (0-3) in the early afternoon on Sunday in Charlotte. Although the intensity was retained, the competition contrast from its first two affairs to this one was welcomed by Stony Brook, who demonstrated levels to lacrosse in an at times flimsy, but overall convincing 12-6 win.

The Seawolves’ offense was the biggest story of the game. Coming into the contest having scored just 13 goals in 120 minutes, Stony Brook improved for 12 scores and 50 shots, including 23 that landed on the cage.

Although they took a while to get on the board, the Seawolves hit the ground running once midfielder Collin Williamson tallied the affair’s first goal 7:41 into it. They scored twice more in the opening period — including a five-hole strike by midfielder Michael Kloepfer. Nonetheless, the Royals remained in the fray the first 15 minutes by registering a goal of their own, making it 3-1 going into the second frame.

However, Stony Brook broke things open in the second quarter. Although the face-off advantage (5-4) in favor of the Seawolves was slim, the shooting ability between both sides was not in the period. The visitors ripped shot after shot into the back of the net past Queens goaltender Dylan Axman. Conversely, while goaltender Jamison MacLachlan conceded two goals in the frame, one came from an odd bounce shot. Much of the Royals’ other attempts in the quarter were non-threatening, which can be largely attributed to Stony Brook’s suffocating defense that continued its great start to the year on Sunday.

The third period began similarly to the first. Although both teams had shot opportunities to put points on the board, neither could capitalize. However, Queens was the first to score in the third quarter, with attackman Jack Royer going high on MacLachlan to complete a hat trick; this marked a notable change between those frames.

On the ensuing face-off, the Seawolves controlled possession, but a statement defensive stand by the Royals — forcing a shot clock violation from Stony Brook — gave them the ball back. Looking to trim its deficit even further, the hosts were instead denied twice in one possession by MacLachlan. However, on the other end, Queens goaltender Nicky West — who replaced Axman at the end of the second period — stopped a shot by attackman Justin Bonacci, which resulted in Royer scoring his fourth on the other side to make it 9-5.

With the frame dwindling, the Seawolves had a golden opportunity to score their first goal of the half in a man-up. But, they drilled the pipe twice, keeping the window open for the Royals heading into the final quarter.

Following scoreless lacrosse for the first 3:40 of the fourth period, Williamson broke Stony Brook’s dry spell with a clutch goal on a bounce shot through traffic as the shot clock’s buzzer sounded, giving the Seawolves some breathing room from the surging Queens.

MacLachlan continued to shine, making a pair of spectacular saves to continue to shell the Royals’ momentum it brought from their strong third frame. His heroics led to a goal from attackman Ray O’Brien from a doorstep feed courtesy by attackman Ronnie Kraemer.

From there, both defenses entered lockdown mode. Queens scored a single consolation goal — created by a behind-the-back pass from Royer — but no more, remaining without a win in 2025 while Stony Brook got another score for the road later.

“Proud of the toughness we displayed today,” head coach Anthony Gilardi said in a postgame interview with Stony Brook Athletics. “After a slugfest on Friday night, to be able to turn around quickly both mentally and physically and earn win number two was the progress we wanted to see.”

The Seawolves allowed 37 shots (19 shots on goal) by the Royals. They came out on top in the face-off battle (12-9) and each side committed 17 turnovers.

MacLachlan — who played all 60 minutes for a third straight game — had himself another outstanding outing, posting 13 stops for a .684 save percentage. Contrarily, West (seven saves and three goals conceded for a .700 save percentage) performed better than Axman (four saves and nine goals conceded for a .308 save percentage).

True freshman midfielder Caleb Yeung — after not scoring during Stony Brook’s first two contests — had a hat trick to lead the Seawolves’ attacking effort. Overall, they had fantastic depth scoring, as eight unique players tallied goals.

Royer finished with four goals and one assist for Queens, leading its offensive charge.

Stony Brook has its home opener coming up next, which will take place on Saturday at Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium. Then, it will host the Sacred Heart Pioneers, who are 2-0 this season and will play Fairfield before arriving at Long Island, N.Y. Opening face-off for the weekend’s game is scheduled for noon.