MOUNT OLIVE, N.C. – The 12^th-ranked No. 3 seeded University of Mount Olive men's lacrosse team fell to the No. 2 seed 4th-ranked Belmont Abbey College Crusaders 11-6 in the Semifinals of the Conference Carolinas Men's Lacrosse Championship Tournament Friday afternoon at the Ray McDonald Sr. Sports Complex in Mount Olive, N.C.

GAME INFORMATION
Score: Belmont Abbey 11, Mount Olive 6
Records: Mount Olive (12-4), Belmont Abbey (14-2)
Location: Ray McDonald Sr. Complex | Mount Olive, N.C.

How It Happened
Play-by-Play

FIRST QUARTER

• The opening quarter was a defensive standoff as 11 shots were exchanged between the two squads and only one shot found its way past a keeper.
• Belmont Abbey found the first goal with 6:29 left in the quarter on an unassisted strike from James Booth and took the lead.

SECOND QUARTER

• Mount Olive was able to score the equalizer with 42 seconds off the second quarter clock and the momentum started to sway.
• Almost six minutes ticked away before UMO could score again as Tyler Keele put Mount Olive ahead 2-1 with 8:51 left in the half.
• The Crusaders then went on a four-goal run to take back control of the lead and put a three-goal cushion between the teams with 2:38 remaining.
• A final score by Evan Floyd with a second on the clock put UMO back to within two as the half came to a close with BAC in front 5-3.

THIRD QUARTER

• Belmont Abbey continued extending their lead with three goals in the first five minutes of play and took an 8-3 advantage.
• Keele (7:13) and Blake Tallon (3:46) helped close the gap once again to three, but the Crusaders had the final blow to take their largest lead of four, 9-5, into the fourth.

FOURTH QUARTER

• BAC just as they had in every quarter except the second scored the first goal with 13:48 and moved out to a five-goal lead.
• Connor Watson brought the deficit back down to four with 11:43 left in the game, but a comeback was not to be as the Crusaders tacked on one more goal.
• The Trojans committed their highest number of turnovers in the final quarter preventing any chance of a comeback.

KEY STATS

• Blake Tallon and Tyler Keele led the Trojans with two goals each.
• Andrew Avarello (W: 11-4) played all 60 minutes between the pipes and made 16 saves on 27 shots faced.

UP NEXT
Mount Olive's run in the Conference Carolinas tournament comes to a close and will now see if they will get an at-large bid to the NCAA National Championship based off their non-conference regional schedule.