DURHAM, N.C. (Oct. 30) – After featuring four different goal scorers on Monday night, the Trojans closed the regular season with a 4-2 win at Shaw in non-conference play at the Durham County Memorial Stadium.
With the win, the University of Mount Olive men's soccer team improves to 4-7-4 this season and prepares for the first round of Conference Carolinas Championship at Barton on Wednesday with kickoff at 7 p.m. The Trojans secured the No. 7 seed in the league tournament following a pair of shutout performances to finish conference play. Meanwhile, Shaw drops to 8-8-1 overall with a 1-3-1 record against Conference Carolinas opponents.
The Trojans controlled possession on their offensive end in the initial 10 minutes of the contest, including hitting the crossbar at the 9:37 mark. Mount Olive scored the opening goal of the match in the 25th minute after a long throw-in from sophomore
Colby Thompson was headed into the back of the net by fellow sophomore
Pablo Herrera, 1-0. The Bears quickly responded at the 25:25 mark after Zhane Irving scored from distance to tie the contest at 1-1. In the 30th minute, Thompson delivered another throw-in to the box and senior
Andres Herrera scored to reclaim the lead by a 2-1 margin. Shaw tallied three corner kicks in the closing minutes of the first half, but UMO held a one-goal lead at the break.
In the second half, the Trojans quickly stretched the advantage to 3-1 after freshman
Babacar Fall netted a goal off an assist from teammate
Daniel Adasiak at the 51:42 mark. The Bears responded in the 59th minute with Irving registering his second goal of the season. Shaw battled for an equalizer before Adasiak sealed the 4-2 win with a goal in the 74th minute off an assist recorded by freshman
Ariel Nunez.
Junior
Michael Deleo earned the start and recorded a save over the initial 45 minutes of the contest, while fellow junior
Ryan Schmitt played the second half and registered two saves.
Shaw finished with a 13-12 shot advantage while also boasting a 10-5 edge in corner kicks.
The Trojans return to action on Wednesday, Nov. 1, when they travel to face Barton in the first round of the Conference Carolinas Tournament at 7 p.m.
