MOUNT OLIVE, North Carolina - The No.8 University of Mount Olive men's lacrosse team defeated No.14 Colorado Mesa University 11-10 in overtime on Wednesday afternoon in Mount Olive, N.C. Colorado Mesa University traveled almost 2,000 miles to Mount Olive, the longest trip ever by a UMO Athletics regular season NCAA Division II opponent. 

INSIDE THE SCORE

Colorado Mesa won the opening face-off, but Mount Olive was able to regain possession as AJ Switzer turned it over for CMU, allowing Aidan Lalonde to find the back of the net to put one up for the Trojans at the 11:48 mark. It didn't take long for CMU to put one up on the scoreboard to tie the game 1-1 as Hunter Holcomb placed one behind the net. Both teams remained hot as they both went on a 2-2 run, ending the quarter with a tie 3-3. 

In the second quarter, CMU scored four unanswered goals within the first nine minutes of the quarter to put them up by four. Tim Collins found Aidan Lalonde to put one more up for Mount Olive at the 3:19 mark. Both teams had two chances to score, but both continued to play aggressive defense, leaving the score at 7-4 at the break.

In the third quarter, CMU came back with a little bit of fire, scoring first in the quarter off Jed Brummett and AJ Switzer's first two goals, extending their advantage to 9-4. Mount Olive put one more up on the board as freshmen Aidan Lalonde found Connor Watson, but CMU remained in the lead 9-5 going into the final quarter. 

In the final quarter, Mount Olive's Braydon Hickey scored with 7:28 remaining, making the deficit 9-6. The Trojans finally found their momentum and scored two goals by Samuel Skousen and Connor Watson at the 2:55 mark, with UMO trailing 9-8. Mount Olive's Tim Collins tried to find an opening, but the ball bounced off of CMU's goalie Mogi Watson, but Blake Tallon was there to pick up the groundball and put one in the back of the net to tie the game 9-9 with :23 seconds left in the game. Trojan Mike Marto won the ensuring face-off, and UMO's offense was able to find Connor Watson as he put one up for UMO at the :9 mark putting the Trojans in the lead 10-9. CMU wasn't ready to give up just yet as Cole Emmanuel won the face-off and scored with :1 second to go to tie the game 10-10 to force overtime. 

OVERTIME
Mount Olive won the face-off as Brendan Hackl got the groundball for the Trojans. Connor Watson was able to find an opening but shot too wide at the 3:48 mark. A penalty agasint the Mavericks gave the Trojans a man-up chance to find the game-winning goal. UMO still had possession of the ball following the penalty, and freshmen Aidan Lalonde found another opportunity to score. Still, it bounced off the goalie onto the ground. Braydon Hickey positioned himself in front of the CMU keeper and saw an opportunity, picked up the ground ball, put the ball in the back of the net, and helped the Trojans take home the 11-10 Victory. 

"We dug ourselves in a pretty deep hole early. Our upper class really pulled the team together and dug us out of the hole against an outstanding team. It was nice to see the team work together in that fashion and come out with a win." said University of Mount Olive's Head Lacrosse Coach Mike Murphy. 

MOUNT OLIVE LEADERS
Freshmen Aidan Lalonde led the Trojans with four goals. Andrew Avarello had 13 saves.

COLORADO MESA LEADERS
Sergio Pelaya led CMU with two goals and 2 assist. Mogi Watson had 13 saves.

KEY MOMENT
The game's key moment was in overtime when Braydon Hickey found the game-winning goal off a rebound to give UMO the 11-10 Victory.

UP NEXT
Mount Olive will return in action on March 20 when the Trojans are back at the Ray McDonald Sr. Sports Complex to face Chowan University. The first face-off is set for 12:00 p.m.