No. 12 Mount Olive Drops Heart-Breaker 12-10 To No. 1 Limestone On Senior Day

No. 12 Mount Olive Drops Heart-Breaker 12-10 To No. 1 Limestone On Senior Day

MOUNT OLIVE, N.C. – The 12th-ranked University of Mount Olive men's lacrosse team dropped a heart-breaker to the No. 1 Saints of Limestone College 12-11 in Conference Carolinas action Saturday afternoon at the Ray McDonald Sr. Sports Complex in Mount Olive, N.C. Prior to the game, Austin Whitlow, Austin Peper, Thatcher Clark, Scott Dangnanleach, Austin Robinson, and Jared Pearce were honored for their sacrifice to the men's lacrosse program as part of senior day at UMO.

GAME INFORMATION
Score: No. 1 Limestone 12 - No. 12 Mount Olive 10
Records: Mount Olive (11-3, 5-2 CC), Limestone (15-0, 7-0 CC)
Location: Ray McDonald Sr. Complex | Mount Olive, N.C.

How It Happened
Play-by-Play

FIRST QUARTER

  • Mount Olive lost the opening faceoff and found themselves behind not even a minute into the game as Limestone found the back of the net 14:23 into the game.
  • A second LMC goal with 10:37 left looked to see Limestone jump out 2-0.
  • Tyler Keele finally got Mount Olive on the board less than a minute later and decreased the deficit to one.
  • UMO was penalized with a cross-checking foul with under seven minutes in the quarter and the Saints made the Trojans pay for the penalty as they scored with 6:35 and pushed their lead back out to two.
  • Mount Olive was then able to go on a slight run scoring two unanswered goals within 30 seconds and tied the game at three.
  • Limestone got the final punch to end the quarter as with 1:18 the Saints took a 4-3 lead into the second.

SECOND QUARTER

  • Mount Olive came out in the second with a little more fire as Gunner Parson scored two straight goals giving UMO its first lead of the game 5-4 with 10:22.
  • Connor Watson added to the scoring parade with 7:19 left in the quarter as Cameron Bope found Watson for the score.
  • Limestone stopped the run with a goal just under the five-minute mark and the defenses held strong for the remainder of the quarter as UMO took a 6-5 lead into halftime.

THIRD QUARTER

  • The Trojans reextended their lead to two with 12:16 off the stick of Austin Whitlow.
  • Limestone found a big comeback scoring three unanswered goals to regain their lead for the first time since the 1:18 mark of the first.
  • For the remainder of the quarter, the two squads exchanged goals until Limestone took the final goal and the 10-9 lead into the final frame.

FOURTH QUARTER

  • Mount Olive scored first in the fourth with Nathan Bradley scoring the game-tying 10th goal.
  • The Trojans a solid chance to push home the go-ahead goal as two penalties at the 8:50 mark put Limestone down two men, but the Saints defense did not allow a goal and the game remained tied.
  • LC got the go-ahead, and what proved to be the game-winning, goal at the 6:49 mark and the Saints led 11-10.
  • Limestone pushed home one final insurance goal with six minutes left and despite several shots from the Trojans a comeback was not to be and UMO fell 12-10.

KEY STATS

  • Gunner Parson led the Trojans with three goals and also picked up a groundball and forced a turnover.
  • Andrew Avarello (W: 10-3) played all game between the pipes and made 22 saves and on 34 shots faced.

UP NEXT
Mount Olive will return to action April 23 when the Trojans will host Emmanuel College at the Ray McDonald Sr Sports Complex in the quarterfinals of the Conference Carolinas Championship Tournament. Face-off is set for 2 p.m.