Mount Olive rolls over Patriots

By MOC Sports Information
Published in Sports on September 28, 2006 2:16 PM

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MOUNT OLIVE -- Mount Olive defender Ryan Capdepon notched his first collegiate two-assist game, but it was his defensive play in the early minutes that set the tone for the Trojans Wednesday

Chris Varela scored two goals, while Capdepon and Adam Caston added a pair of assists apiece as Mount Olive defeated Francis Marion 5-0 in non-conference men's soccer Wednesday at Trojan Field. The win extends the Trojans' winning streak to three.

After being held without a shot for the first 11 minutes of the match, Mount Olive (6-5-0) recorded five shots in a span of five minutes. Francis Marion goalkeeper Nick Krywyj made saves on three of the Trojan attempts before Varela took a cross from Capdepon and scored from 10 yards out at the 16:15 mark.

Capdepon assisted on the Trojans' second goal with a service to Woody Stilley, who had open space at the top of the box. Stilley dribbled to the center, then bent a shot just inside the upper left post to give Mount Olive a 2-0 lead in the 20th minute.

The Trojans made it 3-0 in the 33rd minute when Bradley Carroll flicked ahead to Varela, who chipped in from 10 yards out. Ryan Adamski scored from 10 yards outside the left post on a service from Caston as Mount Olive went into halftime with a 4-0 lead.

Mount Olive outshot Francis Marion 14-3 in the first half, but it was the Patriots (3-5-1) who had the first scoring opportunity. Alden Brooks was denied a goal from 15 yards out when his shot was blocked by Capdepon in the eighth minute. On the ensuing corner kick, Trojan goalkeeper Chase Smith fisted the service high in the air and made a leaping catch in front of the goal line to prevent a Francis Marion shot attempt.

The Trojans added to their lead six minutes into the second half when Caston served to the left corner to Chris Jasso, who crossed to a wide-open Adrian Daniels for the goal. Varela narrowly missed a bid for his first collegiate hat trick 90 seconds later when his 20-yard attempt went just wide of the left post.

Smith recorded four of his five saves in the second half and Bryan Stitz made a sliding save on Chris Adrian's 10-yard attempt in the 75th minute to combine on the Trojans' fourth shutout of the season and second in a row. Mount Olive has outscored its last three opponents by a margin of 11-1.

"This was a big win for us," said Capdepon, one of eight Trojan seniors. "We're starting to score some goals and that's giving us some confidence."

Mount Olive finished with a 25-10 shot advantage over the Patriots. Krywyj prevented further damage by recording a season-high 12 saves for Francis Marion.

Mount Olive resumes Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference play Saturday as the Trojans head to Anderson, S.C., to take on Anderson. Match time is 3:30 p.m.

All of the Trojajns' wins during their current streak have been non-conference contests. Capdepon hopes his team can build off of Wednesday's win as the Trojans play the first of seven consecutive CVAC matches.

"We're starting to gain some momentum," said Capdepon. "We've won three in a row and we've gotten back over .500. We have some big conference games coming up and hopefully we can use this as a springboard."