Edrisa Malick Chune powered in two goals in the second half as the University of Mount Olive defeated North Greenville 4-0 in the Trojans Conference Carolinas opener in men's soccer at Amon Field in Mount Olive, N.C. The contest was the Conference Carolinas opener for both teams.
Mount Olive (2-1-0 Overall, 1-0-0 Conference Carolinas) came out hot as within the first minute the Trojans had a corner kick. Fernando Tacuri sent the pass in and the touch from Nikolai lotov was just a touch late as the North Greenville (1-2-0, 0-1-0) keeper was able to snag the goal attempt.
The Trojans continued to pressure the ball and found pay dirt in the 23rd minute. lotov fought hard for a ball in the box as he had two shots blocked. The third shot its way past the Crusader defense and Mount Olive took the early lead.
Mount Olive went into the half having outshot North Greenville 10-to-3.
Chune wasted no time as the Trojans started play in the second half. Another shot went off the Crusader keeper, but this time one attempt at the save was all North Greenville had as the ball dribbled into the net.
Louis Gorman helped put Mount Olive ahead even further in the 74th minute as he serviced a ball into the box into the waiting feet of Kevin Williams Lopez. Lopez from 15 feet away put the 3-1 goal into the back of the net.
The offense continued to put the pressure on North Greenville just a minute later. Chune picked up his second goal and the final blow as Santiago Zapata placed a perfect cross to Chune who put the 12 yard shot in.
Mount Olive outshot the Crusaders 19-to-5 and picked up more corners (6-to-2) in their offensive performance. Iotov helped the pack with five shots, four on goal, and a goal for Mount Olive. Trojan keeper Nick Bernsdorf faced only five shots in goal and picked up a save.
Mount Olive will play its third game of a four game home stand on Wednesday as the Trojans play host to southeast regional opponent Francis Marion at 7 p.m. at Amon Field.