Stilley's hat trick sparks Trojans' explosion

Published in Sports on September 22, 2005 2:10 PM

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MOUNT OLIVE -- For 77 minutes, Mount Olive's men's soccer match against Pfeiffer was anybody's game. Then Woody Stilley made sure the outcome was no longer in doubt.

Stilley nothced his first career hat trick -- all in a span of six minutes -- and Adam Caston recorded three assists as nationally 13th-ranked Mount Olive broke open a close match late in the second half for an 8-0 victory over Pfeiffer in Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference men's soccer Wednesday at Trojan Field. The win extends the Trojans' unbeaten streak to 11.

Mount Olive (7-0-1 overall, 3-0-0 CVAC) broke a scoreless tie in the 25th minute when a foul in the box led to an Erik Small penalty kick and a 1-0 Trojan lead. Pfeiffer (4-3-0, 2-1-0) came close to tying the match late in the half after a free kick resulted in a loose ball in the box, but Mount Olive goalkeeper Chris Roush was able to cover to preserve a one-goal lead going into halftime. The Trojans played with a man advantage after a Pfeiffer red card in the 30th minute.

Mount Olive extended the lead to 2-0 in the 53rd minute when Bradley Carroll scored on the first of Caston's three assists. Pfeiffer nearly pulled within a goal in the 73rd minute when Iran McKinney dribbled through two defenders on the end line and crossed to Nick Sheridan in the box, but Roush made the save to preserve the shutout.

The score remained 2-0 until the 78th minute when Stilley's first goal ignited a barrage of goals for the Trojans. Stilley added a goal four minutes later and after a keeper change for Pfeiffer, Brian Fitzmaurice scored a goal in the 83rd minute to make the score 5-0. Fitzmaurice assisted on Stilley's first goal.

Stilley completed his hat trick with a breakaway goal 23 seconds later. Caston assisted on Stilley's last two goals. The Trojans scored six of their eight goals in the final 13 minutes.

"It took a while for us to get going, but then the goals started coming in the second half," said Stilley, who has five goals in his last three matches.

After being held to only three shots in the first half, Mount Olive outshot Pfeiffer 21-8 for the match. Roush finished with five saves for the Trojans while improving his league-best goals against average to 0.65. Pfeiffer starting goalkeeper David Sheridan recorded nine saves.

The shutout was Mount Olive's fifth of the season and second in a row, both in conference play.

"The defense in front of me played extremely well," said Roush. "They take a lot of pressure off me."

Wednesday's contest was a matchup of regionally-ranked teams. Mount Olive entered the match ranked No. 2 in the Southeast Region, while Pfeiffer was ranked No. 7.

"This was a huge win for us," said Stilley. "Pfeiffer has beaten some very good teams this year, so this was a quality win."

Mount Olive returns to action Saturday as the Trojans travel to Hartsville, S.C., to take on Coker in a CVAC matchup. Match time is 3:30 p.m.

Goals by period 1 2 Tot

Pfeiffer 0 0 - 0

(4-3-0 overall, 2-1-0 CVAC)

Mount Olive 1 7 - 8

(7-0-1 overall, 3-0-0 CVAC)

SCORING SUMMARY:

1. 24:05 MOC Erik Small (Penalty kick)

2. 52:11 MOC Bradley Carroll (Adam Caston)

3. 77:19 MOC Woody Stilley (Brian Fitzmaurice)

4. 81:28 MOC Woody Stilley (Adam Caston)

5. 82:45 MOC Brian Fitzmaurice (Jeff McGee)

6. 83:08 MOC Woody Stilley (Adam Caston)

7. 87:18 MOC Jason Ward (Penalty kick)

8. 89:32 MOC Bobby Allen (Jason Ward)

Shots: Pfeiffer 8, Mount Olive 21

Saves: Pfeiffer 10 (David Sheridan 9, Tyler Vaughan 1), Mount Olive 5 (Chris Roush 5)