Trojan stickmen advance to CC lacrosse finals

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on April 24, 2014 1:48 PM

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MOUNT OLIVE -- The underclassmen aren't quite ready to see their fellow seniors end their respective collegiate careers.

They made sure of it Wednesday evening.

Cameron Walsh provided three goals -- all in man-advantage situations -- during the University of Mount Olive's 10-6 triumph over No. 10-ranked Pfeiffer University in the Conference Carolinas men's lacrosse tournament semifinals.

The second-seeded Trojans (13-2 overall) travel to No. 3-ranked Limestone (S.C.) for the championship match Sunday. Face-off is 1 p.m.

"There was a lot more on the line this game because for all of our seniors this was our last game if we ended it here," said Walsh, who dished out a fourth-period assist on Matt Shields' lone goal of the match.

Mount Olive thrived on man-up opportunities and its defense held third-seeded Pfeiffer (9-5) scoreless for nearly 32 minutes. The Falcons' scored in the game's opening 30 seconds, but couldn't finish shots around the net.

Sophomore goalie "Rocky" Bowman broke his own school record for saves (19), including 14 stops in the first half. Bowman entered the game as the nation's top-ranked Division II goalie with a .632 save percentage.

"He saw the ball, tracked it very well, talked with our defenders, came out on occasion when he needed to and stayed (in the crease) when he needed to," UMO head coach Mike Murphy said of Bowman.

"For a sophomore, he was a great leader."

The Trojans converted five man-up opportunities, including three in a physical fourth quarter that resulted in numerous penalties by both teams. Overall, UMO has scored 37 man-up goals this season.

Pfeiffer finished 1-for-8 on man-up possessions against a UMO defense ranked second nationally in man-down percentage (.821).

"In both aspects, man-up and defense come down to the mental game," Murphy said. "Man-up is making the right pass at the right time and knowing when to get that step in and shot down. Defensively, when you use your head and are talking, you get people on the same page.

"When you're mentally tough, we're hard to beat."

Junior midfielder Alex Tindall knotted the contest at 1-1 with an unassisted goal 92 seconds into the first period. His score ignited a four-goal run that included marks by freshman attacker Brett Kingston, Walsh and Shewey.

UMO led 4-1 at halftime.

The Falcons trimmed the margin in half on Derek Thomas' unassisted goal two-plus minutes into the third quarter. Walsh answered nearly seven minutes later and the Trojans eventually punched in four of the game's next five goals.

"It just happens that practice makes perfect and we go over everything we do in practice, and we put it out here on the field," said Shewey, who was one of five underclassmen to register a goal on the night. "We may have some turnovers, but look what we're doing when we make the right choices."