Mount Olive made its Conference Carolinas debut Saturday afternoon at Belmont Abbey. The Trojans, however, could not overcome a slow start and Belmont Abbey took advantage in an 18-6 women's lacrosse decision at Belmont, N.C.

Mount Olive (1-2 Overall, 0-1 CC) dug itself a 5-0 hole thanks to Crusader MacKenzie Miller, who scored three of her seven goals in the game's first seven minutes. She added a fourth goal to make it 5-0 with 9:01 left in the first half.

Then Mount Olive came alive. Riann Daziel gave the Trojans life with a pair of unassisted goals, then Sarah Fischer added a free position goal to bring the Trojans back into the game, trailing only 5-3.

Belmont Abbey (2-0, 2-0) recovered with single goals Rebecca Diggs and Ariel Walker before Kara Lyon sent the Trojans into intermission on a strong note with an unassisted goal with just 20 seconds remaining in the half.

Despite trailing much of the half, Mount Olive stood even in most statistics at intermission. The Trojans had just seven turnovers in the opening 30 minutes, compared to 10 by the Crusaders. Mount Olive also had just one fewer ground ball possession.

In the second half, however, things turned Belmont Abbey's way and the Trojans never recovered. The teams traded goals early in the period, as Alysha Kulka scored on a free possession goal 3:44 into the half to cut the deficit to 8-5.

The Crusaders put the game away by scoring three in a row. After a Daziel's third goal with 14:22 left, Belmont Abbey scored the final six markers of the game.

Candace Corkin accounted for the Trojans' final goal. Mount Olive's six markers came on just 10 shots on goal. Belmont Abbey, however, kept pressure on the Trojans' defense with 28 shots on goal. Mount Olive goalkeeper Sarah Snell finished with 10 saves.

Snell led the Trojans with seven ground balls recovered, while Victoria Petricola, Snell and Heather Cockburn had one forced turnover apiece.

Mount Olive returns to action Saturday when Queens University travels to Amon Field March 2 beginning at 3 p.m.