University of Mount Olive outshot Erskine but could not overcome two early goals as the Trojans fell 2-0 in Conference Carolinas men's soccer Saturday at Amon Field. The Trojans outshot the Flying Fleet 8-5 in the second half and 12-10 for the match.
Mount Olive (2-4-2 overall, 0-2-0 Conference Carolinas) put together shots in bunches late in the second half. Bright Eto's shot from the left side of the box in the 72nd minute went just wide of the right post. Erskine goalkeeper Fiore Costa made a save on Cooper Gaypia's point blank shot in the 85th minute and a defender stopped Macon Watkins' header in the 88th minute on a Trojan corner kick.
Erskine (4-3-1, 2-0-1) got on the scoreboard at the 7:13 mark after a long service by Alex Waldthausen from inside the Flying Fleet half. Andrew Settlemire let the ball bounce twice to the top right of the box, then one-touched a shot to the upper 90 to give the Flying Fleet a 1-0 lead. Joe O'Neill added a goal at 20:13 after capturing a loose ball off of Stian Tsemetsis' deflected shot.
The loss was Mount Olive's fourth in a row after going unbeaten in its first four matches this season.
Prior to the start of the match, a moment of silence was observed to honor the three members of the North Central Texas College softball team who were killed Friday night in an automobile accident. The team was returning home from a game.
Mount Olive returns to action Tuesday as the Trojans play host to Newberry in a non-conference match-up. Match time is 7 p.m. at Amon Field.