HARROGATE, Tenn. -- The Queens Royals (5-5, 4-1 SAC) opened the second half by scoring five unanswered goals to hand the Railsplitters (1-8, 0-6 SAC) a 9-6 loss in South Atlantic Conference action at the LMU Lacrosse Complex on Saturday afternoon.
 
Lincoln Memorial dazzled in the opening half and used some nifty work from Dylan Neisler (Detroit, Mich.) to build a 3-2 halftime lead over the defending SAC regular season and tournament champion.
 
Queens and LMU traded goals a little over three minutes apart in the first period, as Casey Hock received a pass from reigning SAC Player of the Year Garrett Chan and staked the Royals to a 1-0 lead at the 8:50 mark. The Railsplitters answered at the 5:35 mark, flipping a Queens' turnover into a quick transition opportunity and knotting the match with an unassisted goal from Billy Kopsky (Smithtown, N.Y.).
 
Hock scored again with 3:22 left in the first period to send Queens into the second period with a 2-1 edge.
 
The second stanza belonged to Neisler, who tallied the only two goals of the frame to build the Railsplitters 3-2 lead. Adam Golia (Victoria, British Columbia, Canada) scooped up a ground ball and dished it off to Justin Stewart (Copiague, N.Y.), who found Neisler for the game-tying goal at the 8:35 mark. Less than four minutes later, a ground ball pick up from Jared Courchene (Sagkeeng, Manitoba, Canada) led to another goal from Neisler, this time with the assist coming from Kopsky.
 
Queens was limited to three shot attempts in the second period, but exploded for 10 shots and nine shots on goal in the third frame, dropping LMU from a 3-2 lead to a 7-3 deficit with five straight goals. Evan Farkas tied it up just 41 seconds into the third, while Hock gave the Royals the lead at the 12:38 mark. Man-up goals from both Hock and Farkas capped the 5-0 run that ultimately proved too much to overcome for the Railsplitters.
 
Courchene ended the run by finishing off a pass from Jusstin Ruffin (Copiague, N.Y.) to trim the deficit to 7-4 with 3:46 left in the third.
 
The Railsplitters were unable to make a run in the fourth period, though, trading a pair of goals with Queens. Ronny Paulino (Copiague, N.Y.) and Neisler accounted for LMU's two goals in the frame.
 
Lincoln Memorial won the shot battle 32-25, but Queens accumulate a 19-17 advantage on shots on goal. The Railsplitters scooped up 20 of the 35 ground balls in the first half, but the Royals outproduced the home team in that department 27-12 in the second half.
 
Neisler tallied three goals in the match, while Stewart contributed a pair of assists and led the Railsplitters with four ground balls. Kyle Fleck (Toledo, Ohio) grabbed three ground balls and led all players with four caused turnovers.
 
Queens committed 26 turnovers to only 21 for the Railsplitters. Lincoln Memorial went 4-for-19 on faceoffs and 13-for-18 on clears.
 
LMU keeper Joe Medel (Virginia Beach, Va.) allowed nine goals and made 10 saves in 60 minutes of work, while Queens keeper Eric Dolan made 11 stops over that same span.
 
Neisler led the Railsplitters with seven shots, while Paulino and Stewart chipped in six shots and four shots on goal apiece. Kopsky had five shots with two landing on goal.
 
The Railsplitters aim to snap their seven-game losing skid on Wednesday, hosting Colorado State-Pueblo for a nonconference tussle at the LMU Lacrosse Complex. First faceoff is set for 3 p.m.