WOMEN'S LACROSSE: Poor offensive outing dooms Trojans

By Ben Coley
Published in Sports on February 25, 2017 11:07 PM

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MOUNT OLIVE -- The University of Mount Olive may as well have played in a desert Saturday afternoon because its scoring drought seemed endless.

The Trojans did little to challenge Lenoir-Rhyne's goalkeeper. The empty offensive possessions piled up, and the Bears took advantage.

Lenoir-Rhyne freshman Alyssa Sack tied the game in the waning seconds of regulation. She followed up that score with a game-winner in double overtime, handing UMO a 9-8 loss.

UMO scored only one goal in the second half and overtime periods. The Trojans didn't record a goal in the last 371/2 minutes of the game.

"It's been our struggle all year," said UMO head coach Grant Kelam. "We actually instituted a new shooting drill this week, which may have been a little too late. Our shooting percentage has been down."

The Trojans held an 8-5 at halftime, and shot 42 percent. In the second half, that level of production dipped considerably.

Michaela Ciciarelli's score with 24:55 left in regulation was the Trojans' final goal. UMO went 1-for-13 in the second half and overtimes combined. The lackluster performance brought the Trojans' shooting percentage down to 25 for the game.

After winning its first four contests of the season, UMO has now lost two straight. The Trojans dropped a 10-8 decision against Wingate on Tuesday.

"We shot 30 percent against Wingate," Kelam said. "Good average shooting is percentage 45-50 percent -- you win (against Wingate) and you win this game by a lot...We got tired and reverted back to old habits. It's shooting the goals stick-side high, and not making the goalie make tough saves."

Claire Murray and Saffron Snethen led the Trojans with two goals apiece. Lenoir-Rhyne's offensive attack was spearheaded by Sack and Gabby Sousa, who both posted a hat trick.

Kelam said a loss is only a long-term issue if the team doesn't take it and get a win from it later in the season.

That's the method the Trojans' coach hopes his team will learn -- whether it's a win or loss, the goal is to get better.

"(We) have to learn from it," said UMO head coach Grant Kelam. "We have a young team -- we have 24 freshmen and sophomores. You make some clock mistakes when you're young. But as long as you learn from it, and become a better player, long term we're okay."