No. 13 Mount Olive Wins 2OT Thriller Over Coker 16-15 In Home Opener

MOUNT OLIVE, N.C. – The 13^th-ranked University of Mount Olive men's lacrosse team defeated the Cobras of Coker College 16-15 in double overtime to open the 2019 home season at the Ray McDonald Sr. Sports Complex in Mount Olive, N.C.

GAME INFORMATION
Score: No. 13 Mount Olive 16, Coker 15
Records: Mount Olive (2-0), Coker (1-3)
Location: Ray McDonald Sr. Sports Complex, Mount Olive, N.C.

How It Happened
Play-by-Play

FIRST QUARTER

• Mount Olive started the scoring in their home opener with some fire as Connor Watson brought home the first score with 11:53 on the clock and started a 5-0 run for the Trojans.
• In the run, five different Trojans found the back of the net as Watson, Thatcher Clark (10:50), Tim Collins (9:00), Brady Elbin (7:39), and Blake Tallon (6:35) propelled Mount Olive to a commanding lead.
• Coker was able to stop the run with a Matt Murphy unassisted goal at the 5:26 mark and following a second Tim Collins goal, the Cobras added their second goal with 1:16 to take a 6-2 deficit into the second. 

SECOND QUARTER

• The second quarter was all Coker as the Cobras scored the first goal at the 13:42 mark and went onto out-score the Trojans 5-to-1 and tie the game going into halftime.

THIRD QUARTER

• The third quarter the visiting Cobras continued to press to open the third round of play as four straight goals went in the books before Mount Olive was able to stop the run.
• Goals by Tallon and Clark brought the score down to 11-9 in favor of Coker with just over three minutes remaining. 
• The Cobras added one final goal with 1:24 left in the quarter to increase their lead back to three and the final quarter was set up to be very eventful.

FOURTH QUARTER

• The final quarter was an all-out offensive effort by the Trojans, as following an unassisted goal by Coker, UMO went on a four-goal run to tie the game at 13 with 8:53 left.
• Coker responded to the Mount Olive run with two goals of their own to take a 15-13 lead with 7:11 left in regulation.
• Gunner Parson helped give Mount Olive a spark with his second goal of the game at the 6:01 mark after Clark found the junior for the score.
• UMO then was able to complete the comeback once again as Watson passed to Clark with 5:24 left in regulation and found the back of the net and the game was tied 15 all.
• Neither squad could find the game-winning goal in the final five minutes of play and overtime was needed.

FIRST OVERTIME

• The first overtime period saw equal shot attempts by Mount Olive and Coker but just as in the final minutes of the fourth quarter neither team could find the winning goal and the game went into a second overtime.

SECOND OVERTIME

• In the second overtime Mount Olive's Caleb Hippensteel won the opening faceoff and within 43 seconds UMO had a shot on goal. The shot was picked up by the Coker keeper however and the period continued.
• A failed clear attempt with 2:45 set up Mount Olive's final attack.
• Connor Watson took a shot on goal with 2:06 on the clock and a save kept the Trojans from the win, but the ball still in play allowed Blake Tallon to scoop and score four seconds later and seal the win for the Trojans.

KEY STATS

• Clark led the Trojans with four goals and Tallon was close behind with three.
• Graden Soucy led the defensive attack with four takeaways and picked up two groundballs.
• Between the posts, Matthew Stidham (W: 1-0) picked up his first win as a Trojan in relief, making two saves on eight shots in 30:33 in goal.

UP NEXT
Mount Olive will return to action February, 23 when the Trojans will travel to take on the Royals of Queens University in Charlotte, N.C. The first face-off is set for 11 a.m.