MOC lacrosse splits

By MOC Sports Information
Published in Sports on April 6, 2013 11:51 PM

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BANNER ELK - Mount Olive sophomore Alex Crawford scored a career-high five goals and the Trojans kept alive their hopes of a tournament berth with a 19-6 Conference Carolinas women's lacrosse win over Lees-McRae Saturday afternoon at Banner Elk, N.C.

As a Trojan, Crawford scored a single goal in five separate games this season. She matched that mark with 19:33 left in the first half, giving the Trojans (8-6 Overall, 2-4 Conference Carolinas) the lead for good 3-2. Less than two minutes later, Crawford struck a second time as Mount Olive reeled off six unanswered goals after spotting the Bobcats a 2-0 lead.

Maddy Biggar and Allie Dunn struck before intermission to give Mount Olive an 8-5 lead. In the second half, the Trojans could not be stopped. Crawford and Heather Cockburn scored moments into the second half before Lees-McRae (3-6, 0-4) responded. Olivia Gudewich's tally with 18:24 left in the contest was the Bobcats' only marker of the second half.

Biggar got her second score 14 seconds later to start a 9-0 Mount Olive run to end the contest. It marked the fifth time this season the Trojans have held an opponent to six goals or fewer.

The Trojans' win keeps them in the hunt for a spot in the conference tournament in two weeks. The Trojans are two games behind Belmont Abbey and Converse in the loss column. Belmont Abbey lost to Queens Saturday, while Converse meets Lees-McRae Monday.

CHARLOTTE - Mount Olive closed within three goals in the final three minutes, but got no closer and the Trojans dropped a 15-10 Conference Carolinas men's lacrosse game to Queens University Saturday afternoon in Charlotte, N.C. Matt Shields, Daniel Shields and Jake Duarte each scored twice for the Trojans.

The Royals (7-5 Overall, 4-2 Conference Carolinas) extended a four-goal cushion to 12-6 with a pair of goals in the first five minutes of the fourth period.

After Spencer Gelinas scored for the Trojans with 9:34 remaining, the Trojans were still facing an uphill battle that got steeper when the Royals got insurance in a Kevin Hornik tally with 8:20 left.

Then the Trojans made their move. First, Blake Bennett assisted on a Nick Sanderson goal at the 6:26 mark, then Cameron Walsh provided an assist to Jake Hancock to make it 13-10 with 4:10 left and Alex Tindall fed Walsh to close the gap to 13-10 with 3:19 remaining.

It got no closer. After Tindall's goal, Kenneth Stryker won the ensuing face-off and raced down the field and delivered the back-breaker. A man-up goal in the final two minutes for the Royals closed out the scoring.

The Trojans close out their regular season next Saturday when Mount Olive travels to Belmont Abbey for a 1 p.m. start.