MOUNT OLIVE (April 25) – In the semifinals of the Conference Carolinas Championship, the No. 1 seeded Trojans punched their ticket to the finals after posting a 20-10 victory over rival No. 5 Barton on Thursday afternoon at Ray McDonald Sr. Sports Complex.
With the win, the University of Mount Olive women's lacrosse program captured a sixth straight victory to improve to 15-3 overall while boasting an 8-2 mark at home this season. The Trojans match their highest-win total in program history and look to complete the four-peat on Saturday, April 27 against Young Harris in the championship game. Meanwhile, Barton closes the season with an 8-11 record behind a 3-6 mark on the road.
Senior Logan Hibbard delivered a nine-point performance (six goals, three assists) on Thursday to set a new single-season record with 101 points. Additionally, she eclipsed the single-season record with 42 assists after tallying three in the semifinal against the Bulldogs. Junior Rileigh White finished with one goal and four assists while junior Jenna Mish registered a hat trick.
Mount Olive established an early 2-0 advantage in the first quarter after Hibbard and fifth-year Bria Hamilton tallied goals off assists by White. Barton countered at the 11:46 mark to cut the deficit to 2-1 before UMO scored five consecutive goals to build a 7-1 edge. Sophomore Maddy Fratus found the back of the cage at the 10:55 mark before Hibbard completed her hat trick with back-to-back goals in the span of two minutes. The freshman duo of Kayanna Bowden and Caroline Clark also scored in their first postseason appearance. The Bulldogs responded by scoring three of the final four goals of the first quarter, as the Trojans held an 8-4 lead. Barton closed the gap to 8-5 early in the second before the Trojans tallied three unanswered goals with Bowden, junior Teagan Dunnett, and Hibbard all finding the back of the net. The Bulldogs recorded the final two goals of the quarter to trail by an 11-7 margin at the break.
The Trojans pulled away in the third quarter after the UMO defense held Barton scoreless while netting six goals. Sophomore Alexa Fitzgerald scored on a man-up opportunity in the opening minutes before fellow sophomore Hannah Legge scored at the 13:21 mark. Junior Jenna Mish registered consecutive goals in under two minutes before Hibbard and Clark each added to the score sheet, 17-7. In the fourth, Hibbard delivered a free-position goal while junior Lena DeFilippo and Mish scored to extend the lead to 20-7. Barton closed out the final seven-plus minutes with three goals, but Mount Olive secured the 20-10 win.
Junior Anna James played the opening 18:05 of the contest and recorded one stop while senior Jane Hobbs finished the 41-plus minutes on Saturday. Defensively, Hamilton, Hibbard, and sophomore Giavahna Gasdia each registered two caused turnovers against the Bulldogs.
The Trojans finished with a 40-15 shot advantage over Barton while going 17-of-18 on clear attempts.
The Trojans return to action in the finals of the Conference Carolinas Championship on Saturday, April 27, with the start time set for 1 p.m. at Ray McDonald Sr. Sports Complex.
