MOUNT OLIVE (April 8) – In a low-scoring affair in the cold and rainy conditions, the Trojans were unable to overcome an early deficit in an 8-4 loss versus North Greenville on Saturday afternoon in Conference Carolinas play at Ray McDonald Sr. Sports Complex.
With the loss, the University of Mount Olive men's lacrosse team drops to 4-7 this season with a 2-2 mark in conference action. The Trojans sit fifth in the league standings with two conference matches remaining in the regular season. Meanwhile, North Greenville secures their fourth-straight win and improves to 7-6 overall with a 3-1 record in league play.
The Crusaders scored three-straight goals in the opening three-plus minutes of the first quarter before netting another goal at the 5:57-mark to stretch the lead to 4-0. Just over a minute later, the Trojans broke through with an unassisted goal by senior
Chance Urban to cut into the deficit, 4-1. North Greenville reestablished its four-goal advantage in the final minutes of the first to hold a 5-1 lead. The second quarter featured just eight shots on goal, as only one goal was scored during the entire 15 minutes. At the 1:36-mark, senior
Chaz Goodman delivered his 13th goal of the season to close the gap to 5-2 heading into halftime.
In the early minutes of the third quarter, the Crusaders extended their lead to 6-3 before junior
Chapman Parker answered with his team-leading 18th goal of the year at the 11:21-mark to trail by a 6-3 margin. Despite holding a 9-6 edge in shots in the third quarter, the Trojans were unable to trim the deficit further. In the fourth quarter, North Greenville found the back of the net in the initial minutes to take a 7-3 advantage. Mount Olive countered with a goal by graduate student
Blake Tallon with 12:02 left in the game. The Crusaders scored the final goal of the contest at the 11:43-mark to secure an 8-4 win on the road.
Junior
Jacob Brown totaled 10 saves on the 30 shots faced, including 18 on goal in 60 minutes of action. Senior
RJ Chandler and sophomore
Davin Ikert combined for three caused turnovers and eight ground balls on the defensive side. Sophomore
Cameron Norton led the team with a career-high three caused turnovers in the loss, while graduate student
Mike Marto won 12-of-16 face-offs in the game.
The Trojans are idle for a week before returning to Conference Carolinas action on Saturday, April 15, when they travel to face Lees-McRae on the road, starting at 2 p.m.
