Candace Corkin and Michelle Fortier combined to score the first seven goals in a 9-0 run as third-seeded University of Mount Olive broke away from a one-goal lead for a 15-8 victory over No. 6 seed Converse College in the first round of the 2014 Conference Carolinas Women's Lacrosse Tournament Tuesday at Amon Field. Fortier finished the game with five goals while Corkin added four goals.
In its second year of women's lacrosse, Mount Olive picked up its first conference tournament win and will make its initial appearance in the semifinal round.
Mount Olive (12-5) led 3-2 with 12:50 left in the first half when the Trojans began their run. Fortier scored 27 seconds after a Converse goal and Corkin added a pair of goals in a span of 41 seconds to extend the Trojans' lead to 6-2 with 11:02 left.
The Trojans scored again three minutes later when Michelle Scannell drew the Converse goalkeeper and passed to Fortier, who scored into an open net. Corkin scored a free position goal with 1:16 left and Fortier closed the first half scoring with 12 seconds remaining to give Mount Olive a 10-2 halftime advantage.
Fortier scored 40 seconds into the second half and goals by Scannell and Kali Cook-Grisewood capped the run and gave the Trojans a 12-2 lead with 23:21 left in the contest. A caused turnover and two ground balls by Ashlyn Altieri helped set up Mount Olive's first two goals of the second half.
Converse (7-11) ended Mount Olive's run on goals by Jordy Taylor and Emma Murphy. The margin reached double figures again after goals by Fortier and Katie McGovern made the score 14-4 with 9:14 left. Converse came back with four unanswered goals, including a pair by Murphy. Heather Cockburn scored for Mount Olive with 1:18 remaining to complete the game's scoring.
The Valkyries took a 1-0 lead 68 seconds into the game after Amelia Helm scored the first of her three goals, all in the first half. Mount Olive tied the game on Riann Daziel's goal three minutes later and Corkin's goal with 24:21 left put the Trojans ahead to stay. Corkin scored all of her goals in the first half.
Trojan starting goalkeeper Hannah Knight recorded five saves, while Sarah Snell tallied two saves in the final six-plus minutes.
Mount Olive faces No. 2 seed Pfeiffer Friday at 3:30 p.m. in the second semifinal. The Trojans fell to the Falcons 9-5 at Amon Field during the regular season.
In the first semifinal, top-seeded Limestone takes on No. 4 seed Belmont Abbey. Both semifinal round games and Saturday's championship game are being hosted by Limestone and take place in Gaffney, S.C.