Riann Daziel and Claire Wigler each scored eight points as nationally 13th-ranked University of Mount Olive clinched a first-round bye in next week's conference tournament with a 23-3 victory over Lees-McRae College in Conference Carolinas women's lacrosse Saturday at Banner Elk, N.C. The contest was the Trojans' regular season finale.
With the win, Mount Olive (13-3 overall, 7-1 Conference Carolinas) finishes second in the regular season conference standings – its best-ever finish – and gives the Trojans the No. 2 seed in the 2015 Conference Carolinas Tournament, which gets underway Tuesday with a pair of first round contests. The top two seeds earn byes in the first round and advance to the semifinals.
Wigler scored six goals to tie a school record she already shared with Katie McGovern. Wigler added two assists, while Daziel finished with four goals and four assists.
The Trojans wasted no time, scoring four goals in the first three minutes of the contest, including goals by Daziel, Wigler and Alysha Kulka in a span of 34 seconds. Alanna Bauche's goal with 13:45 left in the first half gave Mount Olive its first double-digit lead at 10-0.
Lees-McRae (7-8, 3-5) got on the scoreboard a minute later as Peyton LeCompte scored the first of her two goals. Wigler scored two of her goals in a 5-0 run to end the first half to give the Trojans a 15-2 halftime lead.
Wigler scored the first goal of the second half and Katie McGovern added back-to-back goals for Mount Olive. The lead reached the 20-goal mark when Kali Cook-Grisewood's goal with 16:36 remaining gave the Trojans a 22-2 advantage.
McGovern finished with four goals for Mount Olive, while Bauche and Kulka added three goals apiece. Hannah Knight recorded five saves in goal for the Trojans.
Mount Olive earns a spot in the semifinal round against the winner of the first-round contest between No. 3 seed Pfeiffer and sixth-seeded Converse. Friday's game time is 3:30 p.m. at Gaffney, S.C. Top-seeded Limestone is the host for Friday's semifinals and Saturday's championship game.