MOUNT OLIVE, N.C. (Feb. 23) – On a rainy Friday afternoon, the University of Mount Olive's men's lacrosse team beat Roberts Wesleyan  11-10 at the Ray McDonald Sr. Sports Complex in non-conference action. 
 
With the win, the Trojans improve to 2-2 overall while playing its last three contest at home. Meanwhile, the Redhawks fall to 3-2 after splitting their road trip contests between Barton and UMO. 
 
The game was off to a slow start as both teams fought for possession. At the 12-minute mark, senior Jack Lewis found sophomore Hudson Karasek to score the first goal of the contest, 1-0. With a man-up opportunity, Karasek saw senior Matthew Ateshian to put one past the keeper, 2-0. In response, RWU scored closing the first quarter, 2-1. The second quarter was electric as eight goals were scored. At the start of the quarter, fifth-year Chaz Goodman passed the ball from behind the cage to Karasek to score his second goal of the game, 3-1. Leveling the game, the Redhawks scored back-to-back goals, 3-3. Shortly after, graduate student Samuel Skousen passed the ball to Goodman to score consecutive goals to extend the lead to 5-3. At the 2:50 mark, sophomore Benjamin Vanderkley threw a laser pass to Goodman to put one in the back of the cage, 6-3. Nearing the end of the first half, Roberts Wesleyan closed the deficit by one with two straight goals, 6-5. 
 
At the start of the second half, RWU took control of the game as they scored three straight goals to take its first lead in the contest, 8-6. At the 2:13 mark, Skousen shot a bouncer in between the goalie's legs, to cut the deficit to one goal. Ending the third quarter, Vanderkley scored his fourth goal of the year, tying the game at 8-8. In the last frame, Mount Olive took advantage on a man-up opportunity when senior Aidan Lalonde scored to take the lead, 9-8. After dodging his defender, Goodman scored two additional goals to extend the lead by three, 11-8. Although the Redhawks scored two more times, UMO sealed the 11-10 victory. 
 
Sophomore goalkeeper Kurtis Lensing put on a stellar performance with a career-high of 16 saves while also collecting four groundballs in the full 60 minutes of play. 
 
Roberts Wesleyan outshot Mount Olive by a 47-30 margin and edged UMO 26-21 in shots on goal. 
 
Goodman put on a performance today with five goals and two assists tallying seven points. Karasek also produced a career-high of three points with two goals and one assist. 
 
The UMO defense also proved to be a powerhouse collecting 33 groundballs and causing 11 turnovers. 
 
Mount Olive hits the road as they face No. 7 Wingate on Wednesday, Feb. 28 to play in non-conference action at 4 p.m.