Offside call helps MOC on road

By MOC Sports Information
Published in Sports on October 26, 2009 1:46 PM

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MOC Sports Information

DUE WEST, S.C. -- Mount Olive College turned an offside call into the game-winning goal and remained alive for the season-ending Conference Carolinas men's soccer tournament.

John Mendoza's goal in the 61st minute broke a scoreless tie as the Trojans upended Erskine (S.C.) 1-0 on Saturday evening. Ramon Gallardo served the ball into the 18 to Chris McClaugherty on the restart. Mendoza completed the play and vaulted MOC into a two-way tie for sixth place in the conference standings.

The top eight teams qualify for the conference tournament.

Jamie Carano logged four saves in the Trojans' first shutout of the season.

Mount Olive (6-9-0 overall, 3-6-0 CC) entertains Anderson on Saturday.

Berth clinched

DUE WEST, S.C. -- Lyndsey McIntyre recorded back-to-back saves on breakaway shots late in the second half and the Mount Olive College women's soccer team battled Erskine (S.C.) to a 0-0 draw on Saturday evening.

The scoreless outcome, along with losses by Barton and St. Andrews, propelled the Trojans into the season-ending Conference Carolinas tournament.

McIntyre's diving stop and recovery of her own deflection off another shot forced the golden-goal, overtime sessions. The teams remained tied after the two 10-minute periods.

McIntyre (three saves) earned her fifth shutout of the season.

Mount Olive (6-8-4, 3-4-3 CC) plays host to Anderson on Saturday.

Trojans compete

CHARLOTTE -- Kerry Maloney earned all-conference honors and Mount Olive placed fourth overall in the season-ending, Conference Carolinas men's cross country championships contested this weekend.

The Trojans recorded their best team finish since winning the league crown in 2001. Maloney, who ended up 13th, ran the 8K course in 26 minutes, 38 seconds -- the fourth-fastest time in school history.

"Our goal was to finish in the top three, so there's a little disappointment that we came so close and just missed out," said Maloney, a sophomore. "But overall, this was a big step up for the program."

Mount Olive improved five spots from last year's ninth-place finish at the conference championship.

The Trojans' Kevin Ryan (27:39) finished 19th, while Paul Hoffman (27:54) was 25th, finishing two seconds ahead of Ronnie Sturgill (27:56) in 26th. Chris Menjares (28:50) placed 34th. Hoffman, Sturgill and Menjares all posted season-best times.

On the women's side, Mount Olive's Melissa Moore paced 31st out of 91 runners with a personal-best 21:21 on the 5K course. Moore initially crossed the line one second off her personal mark, but official results credited her with four seconds.

The personal best takes on added significance, considering that this is Moore's final year of competing. A junior from Willard, N.C., Moore still has a year remaining academically, but has completed her athletics eligibility.

"It feels good to go out on a personal best," said Moore, who will compete in track and field in the spirng.

The Trojans' Nikolette Lucas finished 44th and recorded a season-best time of 22:24. Caitlyn Pye (23:36) finished 63rd, Rocio Alvarado (24:42) was 75th and Angela Bailey (27:02) placed 77th, three seconds ahead of Tiondra Miller (27:05) in 78th. Ashley Sawyer (25:43) was 84th.

MOC finished 10th in team competition.