Alysha Kulka's goal with under four minutes left halted a late rally and Candace Corkin added a free position goal in the final half-minute to seal the win as University of Mount Olive held off Shorter University 11-6 in non-conference women's lacrosse Saturday at Amon Field. The Trojans improved to 5-0 this season when holding their opponent under 10 goals.
Mount Olive (5-2) broke away from an early tie to take a five-goal halftime lead, but could never pull away from Shorter (3-5) in the second half. The Trojans still held a five-goal advantage when Alexa Milus' goal with 10:35 remaining made the score 9-4. Shorter came back with goals by Shelby Beverly and Mia Wiggins to pull within 9-6 with 6:09 left to play.
The Trojans missed on two free position attempts, but a Shorter turnover and Caley Breese's ground ball near midfield denied the Hawks an opportunity to cut further into the lead. After a Hawks foul gave Mount Olive a player advantage, Katie McGovern found Kulka in front of the goal to extend the Trojans' lead to 10-6 with 3:46 remaining.
Shorter goalkeeper Taylor Moody recorded four of her 11 saves during the final two-plus minutes to keep Mount Olive from adding to its lead, but the Trojans were able to eat up most of the clock. A Hawks foul set up Corkin's goal with 26 seconds left to cap the scoring.
McGovern's goal with 17:18 left in the first half broke a 1-1 tie and Michelle Scannell's free position goal with 5:56 left gave Mount Olive a 6-1 halftime lead.
Riann Daziel, McGovern and Milus each scored two goals for Mount Olive. Shorter was led by Wiggins with a game-high three goals.
Mount Olive returns to action Wednesday as the Trojans play host to Brevard in a non-conference match-up. Game time is 4 p.m. at Amon Field.