Mount Olive closed within three goals in the final three minutes, but got no closer and the Trojans dropped a 15-10 Conference Carolinas men's lacrosse game to Queens University Saturday afternoon in Charlotte, N.C. Matt Shields, Daniel Shields and Jake Duarte each scored twice for the Trojans.
The Royals (7-5 Overall, 4-2 Conference Carolinas) extended a four-goal cushion to 12-6 with a pair of goals in the first five minutes of the fourth period.
After Spencer Gelinas scored for the Trojans with 9:34 remaining, the Trojans were still facing an uphill battle that got steeper when the Royals got insurance in a Kevin Hornik tally with 8:20 left.
Then the Trojans made their move. First, Blake Bennett assisted on a Nick Sanderson goal at the 6:26 mark, then Cameron Walsh provided an assist to Jake Hancock to make it 13-10 with 4:10 left and Alex Tindall fed Walsh to close the gap to 13-10 with 3:19 remaining.
It got no closer. After Tindall's goal, Kenneth Stryker won the ensuing face-off and raced down the field and delivered the back-breaker. A man-up goal in the final two minutes for the Royals closed out the scoring.
Mount Olive found itself in a hole early against Queens as the Royals took advantage of face-off dominance to score three goals in 55 seconds. Queens built the lead to 4-0 as the hosts took the game's first nine shots.
The Trojans' first attempt led to Mount Olive's first goal, coming from Matt Shields. Shields closed the gap to 4-2 later in the period. The Trojans got within one goal at 5-4 on Duarte's first goal with 6:55 left in the first half. Mount Olive was never able to pull even.
Hancock, Gelinas, Walsh and Sanderson each scored a goal for the Trojans, while Walsh delivered two assists.
Defensively, Mount Olive forced the Royals into 19 turnovers, while in goal, Rocky Bowman recorded 13 saves while teammate Eli Dodgson added four.
The Trojans close out their regular season next Saturday when Mount Olive travels to Belmont Abbey for a 1 p.m. start. Belmont Abbey's loss to Limestone Saturday keeps the Trojans in fourth place, one-half game ahead of BAC for the final spot in the Conference Carolinas Tournament in two weeks.
Belmont Abbey travels to winless Lees-McRae Wednesday. If Belmont Abbey wins, next Saturday's contest with the Trojans is for the final tournament spot.