GREENWOOD, S.C. (Feb. 3) – Facing a nationally-ranked opponent in the season-opener, the University of Mount Olive's men's lacrosse team fell to No. 19 Lander by a 13-11 margin in non-conference action on Saturday afternoon.

With the loss, the Trojans drops to 0-1 after tying for third in the preseason Conference Carolinas poll. Meanwhile, the Bearcats open the season 1-0 after being picked as the preseason favorite to repeat as the Peach Belt Conference Champions. 

Lander opened the contest with a 2-0 run within the intial three minutes of the first quarter. At the 12:13 mark of the game, sophomore Benjamin Vanderkley found senior Aidan Lalonde to score the first Trojan goal, 2-1. In response, the Bearcats tallied three straight goals to extend the lead by four, 5-1. After a turnover by LU caused by Vanderkley, senior Chaz Goodman passed to teammate Lalonde, scoring his second goal of the game at the 6:27 mark, 5-2. Trying to extend the lead, Lander scored another goal at the 2:28 mark, 6-2. Closing the first quarter, sophomore Hudson Karasek netted an unassisted goal, 6-3. The second quarter came alive as UMO scored its most goals out of all the quarters. Mount Olive started out strong as it scored the opening two goals to bring the game within one, with goals by Lalonde scoring his hat trick and senior Samuel Skousen, 6-5. With a groundball pickup by the Bearcats, Lander scored at the 8:37 mark, 7-5. With a goal by Vanderkley and two back-to-back goals by senior Matthew Ateshian, the game was tied at 7-7. Although Lander was able to score at the 1:46 mark, senior Jack Lewis scored with seven seconds left before halftime, 8-8. 

At the start of the second half, Lander controlled the third quarter as it held UMO scoreless, 11-9. In the last frame of the game, Vanderkley quickly found the back of the net at the 13:55 mark, 11-10. Scoring the equalizer, Parker leveled the contest, 11-11. Lander sealed the win scoring two more goals to earn its first victory of the season, 13-11. 

Sophomore goalkeeper Kurtis Lensing collected 14 saves in his first career start. 

Lander edged UMO in shots 42-41 and in groundballs holding a 38-36 advantage. 

Lalonde led the team with three goals and two assists. Junior Brady Laurance totaled nine groundballs.

UMO returns to play on Saturday, Feb. 10, as it hosts Catawba in the home opener at 3:00 p.m.