University of Mount Olive erased a two-goal halftime deficit on goals by Hunter Gregory and Malick Chune, but Newberry College scored the game winner in the 85th minute to defeat the Trojans 3-2 in non-conference men's soccer Wednesday at Newberry, S.C. The Trojans suffered their sixth straight loss despite outshooting the Wolves 19-11.
Mount Olive (7-8-0) got on the scoreboard at the 52:25 mark after a shot attempt by Nikolai Iotov. Newberry goalkeeper stopped the shot, but Gregory put home the rebound to pull the Trojans within 2-1.
The score remained the same until the 80:14 mark when a Newberry foul in the box gave Trojans a penalty kick opportunity. Chune converted the pk to tie the score 2-2.
Mount Olive's celebration was short-lived after a pair of yellow cards forced the Trojans to play a man down for the final seven-plus minutes of the contest.
Newberry (3-13-0) capitalized on the man advantage two minutes later as Cammy Provan took a cross in the box and scored from six yards out to put the Wolves back on top.
Trevor Knight had a shot at tying the match with 27 seconds left, but Dixon recorded his ninth save of the contest to seal the win and keep the match from going into overtime.
UMO goalkeeper Nick Bernsdorf finished with five saves.
Newberry built a 2-0 halftime lead on a pair of goals five minutes apart midway through the first half.
Mount Olive concludes regular season play Saturday as the Trojans travel to Franklin Springs, Ga., to take on Emmanuel College in Conference Carolinas action. Match time is 3 p.m.
Regardless of Saturday's result, Mount Olive has clinched the No. 4 seed in the 2015 Conference Carolinas Men's Soccer Tournament and will host a first-round match for the first time since 2005. The match is scheduled for Tuesday at Amon Field. The Trojans will host the No. 5 seed, either Erskine College or King University. Mount Olive defeated both teams during the regular season.