MOUNT OLIVE (Feb. 22) – After surrendering five or more goals in the second and fourth quarters, the University of Mount Olive women's lacrosse team dropped a 16-7 decision to No. 19 ranked New Haven in non-conference play at Ray McDonald Sr. Sports Complex on Saturday.
With the loss, the Trojans fall to 1-2 this season following back-to-back losses on their home turf. It marked the first-ever meeting in program history for the sides, as New Haven traveled down from Connecticut for the contest. Meanwhile, the Chargers improve to 1-0 overall after an appearance in the NCAA Tournament in 2024.
A key contributor for the Trojans was junior
Alexa Fitzgerald, who scored a career-high four goals in a single-game while adding an assist and two ground balls. Senior
Lena DeFilippo finished with two points behind a goal and an assist with one caused turnover. Defensively, junior
Giavahna Gasdia totaled five caused turnovers and three ground balls. Sophomore
Simone McCraw registered four caused turnovers and three ground balls in the loss.
The first quarter was a closely contested affair, as both teams struggled to breakthrough offensively in the opening minutes. New Haven got on the scoreboard at the 8:52 mark before Fitzgerald answered with consecutive goals to hold a 2-1 edge. The Chargers scored twice in the final two minutes to take a 3-2 advantage at the end of the first. New Haven broke the game open in the second quarter after netting five unanswered goals to go into halftime with an 8-2 lead.
In the third quarter, redshirt sophomore
Katie Broom scored a man-up goal to trim the deficit to 8-3 at the 13:08 mark. The Chargers countered with another goal before DeFilippo registered a goal to trail 9-4 heading into the final quarter. Fitzgerald collected her hat trick in the initial minutes of the fourth, but New Haven pulled away with five straight goals, 15-5. Sophomore
Caroline Clark and Fitzgerald recorded two of the final three goals of the contest, as UMO fell by a 16-7 margin.
Freshman
Lily Mahoney earned the start and totaled two saves in 21-plus minutes of action. Senior
Anna James finished with a team-high five saves in 29 minutes of play before sophomore
Karissa Doerr closed out the final nine minutes with one save.
New Haven delivered a dominant performance in draw controls with a 21-4 margin.
Mount Olive will be competing in another non-conference game on Friday, Feb. 28, in a road contest at Limestone with the start time set for 4 p.m.
