BANNER ELK, N.C. (Oct. 22) – Sophomore forward Delia Allwood produced her first career hat-trick on Saturday afternoon, as the University of Mount Olive women's soccer team captured a share of Conference Carolinas regular season championship after a 4-3 win over Lees-McRae on the final day of the conference action.

With the win, the Trojans register their sixth-straight win and improve to 13-4 overall with an 11-1 record in league play. Mount Olive secures the regular season title for a consecutive year and shares the honor with North Greenville this season after both teams finished with 33 points. The Trojans earn the No. 2 seed in the Conference Carolinas Tournament and receive a bye to the semifinals, which will be hosted on Friday, Nov. 4 in Browns Summit, North Carolina. Meanwhile, the Bobcats fall to 8-5-4 this season with a 7-3-2 mark in conference action.

Lees-McRae established an early 1-0 advantage just 53 seconds into the match after junior Gen Porsche found the back of the net. The Trojans quickly flipped possession to their attacking half of the field and tallied four shots, including three on goal, and three corner kicks in the span 13-plus minutes. In the 20th minute, UMO tied the match on a goal by freshman Addison Dangler after she received a long through ball and created her own opportunity on the top of the box, 1-1. Mount Olive increased the lead at the 26:14-mark after a long cross from Dangler found Allwood, who poked it past the goalkeeper, 2-1. In the closing minutes of the half, sophomore Tianna Hill blasted a shot on goal that was saved, but Allwood collected the loose ball and scored for the second time in the match in the 35th minute, 3-1.

After limited action in the opening 25-plus minutes of the second half, UMO extended the advantage to 4-1 after Allwood fired a shot just under the crossbar to complete the hat-trick performance at the 72:55-mark. The Bobcats countered under one minute later, as sophomore Lexi Hanson cut into the deficit to 4-2 following a goal. In the 79th minute, Lees-McRae was awarded a penalty kick, and senior Alexa Todd buried the shot into the net in make it 4-3 with just over 10 minutes remaining. The Trojans closed out the final minutes and held the Bobcats to zero shot attempts.

Senior goalkeeper Nicole Solicito earned the win after totaling two saves on eight shots faced in 90 minutes of action.

The Trojans out-shot the Bobcats by a 16-8 margin, including a 13-5 edge in shots on goal, while posting a 6-2 advantage in corner kicks.

Mount Olive are idle for two weeks before returning to action on Friday, Nov. 4 in the Conference Carolinas Tournament Semifinals with their opponent to be determined.