Mount Olive got four goals and two assists from Riann Daziel, and the Trojans led from start to finish for its first Conference Carolinas women's lacrosse victory, a 13-11 win at Erskine Monday night in Due West, S.C. The victory was also the Trojans' first road victory.
The six points matched Daziel's career best, set in each of the team's first two games. She got plenty of help from teammates Maddy Biggar and Heather Cockburn, each of whom added two goals of their own.
Mount Olive (3-3 overall, 1-2 CC) showed no signs of being tired, playing their third game in as many days. Three minutes into the match, Cockburn gave the Trojans the lead for good with an unassisted goal. Sixteen seconds later, Biggar scored her first of the contest from a Daziel assist.
Erskine (2-5, 0-4) was not going down easily. Sarah Tibbets cut the lead to 2-1 with a free position shot before the Trojans responded with two more, the first coming from a free position shot by Allie Dunn, then a man-up goal from Caley Breese made it 4-1.
Tibbets again broke the momentum with 15:59 left, but Mount Olive answered with Cockburn and Biggar again.
The Trojans kept its lead between two and four goals throughout the rest of the first half and took a 9-5 cushion at intermission. Daziel scored her first two goals before the break and Kara Lyon added an unassisted marker.
In the second half, the Flying Fleet threw a scare into the young Trojans. Erskine came out of the break and scored three goals in the first eight minutes to cut the lead to 9-8.
The Trojans survived the wave and got goals from Alanna Bauche and Daziel to rebuild the lead to three. With 10:14 left in the game, Daziel's third marker put the Trojans ahead 12-9.
Erskine had one final push left in it. Goals by Samantha Burns and Kelly Dalziel brought the Flying Fleet within 12-11 with 2:33 left. That was as close as Erskine got. Kulka delivered the insurance with a goal with 1:32 remaining to end the comeback.
Mount Olive goalkeeper Sarah Snell (3-3) finished with five saves as she faced 20 shots from the Flying Fleet. The Trojans outshot their hosts 23-20 and held a 17-9 advantage in draw controls.
Mount Olive returns to the field Thursday when the Trojans travel to Saint Leo for a 6 p.m. start.