Michelle Fortier scored four of her career-high five goals during a game-breaking 14-0 run as University of Mount Olive defeated Converse College 16-6 in Conference Carolinas women's lacrosse Saturday at Spartanburg, S.C. The win extended the Trojans' winning streak to four.
Mount Olive (8-2 overall, 3-1 Conference Carolinas) trailed 3-1 before a pair of goals by Riann Daziel 19 seconds apart triggered the Trojans' scoring run and tied the game with 14:55 left in the first half. Alexa Milus' goal 31 seconds later broke the tie and the Trojans led the rest of the way.
Fortier assisted on Saffron Snethen's goal in between goals by Daziel and Heather Cockburn to extend the Trojans' lead to 7-3 with 10:37 remaining before halftime. She then started her own two-goal spurt in the final seven minutes of the half. Katie McGovern's goal with 3:34 remaining closed out the first half scoring and gave Mount Olive a 10-3 halftime lead.
Fortier, who scored the first goal of the game just 40 seconds into the contest, opened the second half scoring 45 seconds after the break. She scored again with 27:24 to stretch the Trojans' lead to 12-3. Milus assisted on both goals.
Mount Olive concluded its scoring run with unassisted goals by Alysha Kulka, Daziel and McGovern as the Trojans took their biggest lead of the game at 15-3 with 14:15 left to play.
Converse (7-7, 1-3) ended its drought on Emma Murphy's free position shot with 10:34 remaining. The Valkyries cut the margin to single digits after goals by Sydney Hickey and Amelia Helm before Milus' goal with 23 seconds gave Mount Olive its fifth double-figure win this season.
Daziel finished with four goals for Mount Olive, while Milus added two goals and four assists. Fortier also recorded nine draw controls. Hannah Knight and Sarah Snell each tallied four saves in goal.
The Trojans remain in Upstate South Carolina as Mount Olive takes on Newberry in a non-conference match-up Sunday. Game time is 2 p.m. at Newberry, S.C.