BELMONT, North Carolina - The University of Mount Olive No.12 men's lacrosse team defeated the No. 11 Crusaders of Belmont Abbey College in conference action Wednesday afternoon in Belmont. N.C. 

INSIDE THE SCORE
Belmont Abbey won the opening face-off but Mount Olive's Brendan Hackl caused a turnover to gain back possession to help the Trojans put one into the net by Dylan Brunk at the 11:57 mark. UMO found their momentum as they went on a 2-0 run with goals by Samuel Skousen and Aidan Lalonde to take the early 3-0 lead with 6:43 remaining the opening quarter. The Crusaders were able to answer and put one up on the scoreboard by Austin Hasen at the 2:28 mark. The Trojans were ready with one more goal from Samuel Skousen assisted by Blake Tallon to stay in the lead 4-1 as the first quarter drew to a close.

In the second quarter, Mike Marto won the face-off for the Trojans. Mount Olive's Blake Tallon was able to find Tim Collins to put the Trojans up by four leading 5-1 at the 13:20 mark. Mount Olive was able to put one more away as Lucas Shein found an opening and put one in the back of the net helping the Trojans extend their lead going into the break.

In the third quarter, Jake Mackenzie won the face-off for the Trojans, but the Crusaders were able to gain back possession to put one up on the scoreboard by Austin Hasen, still trailing behind 6-2.  The Trojans outscored the Crusaders as Lucas Shein got the scoring started off with 8:06 on the clock. Belmont Abbey was able to answer, but the Trojans were ready with one more goal from Conner Watson to stay in the lead 10-4 at the end of the third quarter. 

In the final quarter, Crusaders Austin Hasen scored with 12:49 remaining to help close the deficit by five. Mount Olive added one more to the scoreboard leading 11-5 with 5:29 remaining. The Trojans were able to shut down the Crusaders defensively only allowing them to score one more. Mount Olive closed the game out and took home the 11-6 win.

MOUNT OLIVE LEADERS
The Trojans were led by Lucas Shein and Samuel Skousen with two goals each.

CRUSADERS LEADERS
The Crusaders were led Austin Hasen with four goals.

KEY MOMENT
The key moment of the game was in the first quarter when the Trojans took a four-point lead and only allowed the Crusaders to score five more goals for the remainder of the game. 

UP NEXT
Mount Olive will return to action on April 17 when the Trojans are back on the road to face Lees-McRae in Banner Elk, N.C for their final regular reason conference matchup. The first face-off is set for 2 p.m.