Jacob Ball captured a ground ball off a missed shot with five seconds left and found Brett Kingston for the game winner with one second remaining as nationally 15th-ranked University of Mount Olive rallied past Wingate University 9-8 in non-conference men's lacrosse Wednesday at Wingate, N.C. Nico Shewey scored two goals 59 seconds apart in the final three minutes to ignite an improbable comeback.
Mount Olive (5-1) spotted Wingate the first three goals of the game and the Trojans never led until the final play. Wingate led by a goal after three quarters and the Bulldogs extended their lead to 8-6 after a goal by Alex Llerandi with 4:15 left in the contest. The Trojans were held scoreless in the fourth quarter until Shewey connected on a goal with 2:57 remaining. He scored again with 1:58 remaining to tie the game for the first time 8-8.
Wingate (0-4) won the ensuing faceoff, but missed a shot four seconds into the possession and Ryan Morris got the ground ball pickup for Mount Olive. The Trojans missed a shot attempt with 1:02 left, but maintained possession and called timeout. Wingate nearly forced a turnover with 33 seconds left, but Austin Whitlow's ground ball pickup kept the ball with Mount Olive.
Matt Shields, who leads Conference Carolinas in goals scored this season, took a shot with five seconds left. Bulldog goalkeeper Jacob Ormerod blocked Shields' shot, but was unable to possess the ball.
Ball scooped up the loose ball and passed to Kingston, who beat the final horn to give Mount Olive its only lead of the entire game. Time expired during the faceoff before either team gained possession.
Whitlow scored Mount Olive's first goal of the contest and finished with three goals to share game-high honors with Ball and Wingate's Austin Murphy. Trojan goalkeeper Ross Bowman recorded eight saves.
Mount Olive returns to action Sunday as the Trojans travel to Baltimore, Md., for a neutral-site contest against nationally second-ranked Le Moyne College. The meeting is the first ever between the two teams in men's lacrosse.
Sunday's game is hosted by Johns Hopkins University, which advanced to the semifinal round of the 2015 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship.