Box Score MOUNT OLIVE, N.C. – The 10^th-ranked No. 1 seeded University of Mount Olive men's lacrosse team takes down the No. 4 seed Barton College Bulldogs 16-9 in the Semifinals of the Conference Carolinas Men's Lacrosse Championship Thursday afternoon at the in Tigerville, SC.

 
INSIDE THE SCORE

Mount Olive won the opening face-off with UMO's Connor Watson finding Tim Collins, who found the back of the net scoring the first goal of the game at the 13:02 mark. Senior Connor Watson wasted no time to put another one up on the scoreboard putting the Trojans in the lead 2-0 with 11:54 remaining in the quarter. The Bulldogs answered back as Seth Mandryk put one in between the pipes, trailing 2-1 with 11:16 left in the quarter. The Trojans went on a 2-1 run with Connor Watson scoring back-to-back goals making it his his third goal of the game, ending the quarter with Mount Olive in the lead 4-1.

In the second quarter, the Trojans scored the first three goals by Tim Collins, Chaz Goodman, and Blake Tallon to help UMO extend their lead 7-2 with 5:46 remaining. The Bulldogs were not ready to back down as they found their hot hand and scored the last four goals to close the deficit by one, but still trailing 7-6 going into the break.

In the third quarter, Mount Olive quickly put one up on the scoreboard by Connor Watson to give the Trojans a two goal lead at the 13:27 mark. Barton answered back as Seth Mandryk found Bodin Nicholas to put one in the back of the net, trailing 8-7 at the 12:19 mark. UMO's offense found their momentum as they scored four unanswered goals in the last twelve minutes to take the lead 12-7 going into the final quarter. The goals were made by Blake Tallon, Aidan Lalonde, Lucas Shein, and Connor Watson, along with two assists by Chance Urban and Connor Watson.

In the final quarter, the Trojans offense continued to stay hot as they put two more in between the pipes to put them in a comfortable lead by seven with 11:25 left in the game. The Barton Bulldogs played hard both ways and were able to find the back of the net twice by Bodin Nichols and B.J. Wilson to help close the gap, but still trailed behind 14-9 at the 7:00 mark. Mount Olive's intensity never lacked as the offense continued to capitalize on finding the one more. Trojan, Connor Watson scored the last two goals of the game to secure the 16-9 win. Senior Connor Watson had an outstanding game scoring seven out of the sixteen goals for Mount Olive. Watson tied the record for first with seven goals in a game with alumni Matt Shields and Daniel Shields in 2013 and 2014. 

MOUNT OLIVE LEADERS
The Trojans were led by Connor Watson with seven and one assist. Watson has 26 goals overall this season. Blake Tallon had four goals and 1 assist. 

BARTON LEADERS
Bulldogs were led by Bodin Nichols with two goals. 

KEY MOMENT
The key moment of the game was in the third quarter when Mount Olive went on a 4-0 run to close the game and took home the 16-9 victory. 

UP NEXT
Mount Olive advances to the finals of the Conference Carolinas Championship in Tigerville, SC against the No. 2 seed Belmont Abbey College on Saturday, April 24. Face-off is set for 1 p.m.