Rodriguez sparks Trojans to first win

By MOC Sports Information
Published in Sports on September 21, 2011 1:49 PM

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MOC Sports Information

MOUNT OLIVE -- Mount Olive College had to work for its first victory of the season Tuesday evening.

In the second period, junior forward Alex Rodriguez scored the deciding goal and assisted on two others as the Trojans downed visiting St. Andrews College, 3-1, on a soggy Amon Field.

Mount Olive (1-6-0 overall, 1-1-0 in Conference Carolinas) threw one attack after another at the visiting Knights. For more than 57 minutes, however, the two teams remained scoreless.

At 57:04, the Trojans' relentlessness paid off. Ramon Gallardo cashed in Rodriguez's first assist when he beat Knight goalkeeper Corey Francis in the box for a 1-0 advantage.

Francis recorded eight saves against 17 Trojan shots in the contest. In the second half, the work paid off for Mount Olive.

At 69:06, Rodriguez benefitted from the ball-handling of teammates Omar Shazly and Tanner Tolston, who bounced a goalie kick right to the foward who delivered from point-blank range.

St. Andrews made things interesting at the 82:51 mark when Michael Mutebi scored to trim the lead to 2-1. It was only the Knights' fourth shot on goal in the match.

The Trojans put the match away less than two minutes later when Rodriguez fed Stan Smith on a breakaway.

Kyle Lavender finished with three saves for Mount Olive. The Trojans outshot St. Andrews, 17-8.

The Trojans return to action Saturday when Mount Olive entertains Chowan College at Amon Field. Match time is 7 p.m.

Porter gets hot

MOUNT OLIVE Sarah Porter's scoring drought is over.

In fact, the same is true for most of the Mount Olive College women's soccer team. The Trojan sophomore scored three goals, all in a span of eight minutes, as Mount Olive defeated visiting St. Andrews 10-0 Tuesday afternoon at Amon Field.

Teammate Lindsey Stanley would not be outdone, turning in a hat trick of her own. Stanley scored twice in the first 11:11, the first coming on the first of two assists from Damilia Brooks. Two minutes later, she scored on a start kick just outside the penalty box.

Mount Olive (3-1-1 overall, 2-0-0 in Conference Carolinas) scored for the third time in seven minutes when Becky Sanzole split a pair of Knight defenders after receiving a pass from Brooks, then found the corner of the goal

Porter had not scored since her school-record string of 10 consecutive matches with a goal ended two contests ago. After Stanley grabbed her third goal less than six minutes into the second period, Porter scored three consecutive goals on assists from Stanley, Brittany Thurlow and Cara Paxson.

St. Andrews (1-5-0, 0-4-0 CC) did its best to fend off the Trojan attack. Knight goalkeeper Hannah Platt finished with 13 saves, but had to contend with 30 shots on goal by the Trojans. Platt made several acrobatic saves late in the first period to keep her team within, 3-0.

After intermission, the flood gates opened.

At 51:46, Stanley delivered her sixth goal in three games when she redirected a centering pass from Brittany Thurlow. Thurlow finished with three assists to aid the cause.

In the final 20 minutes, the Trojans' Janaya Finney, Caroline Smith and Paxson got in on the fun with goals of their own. Meredith Keaton added an assist.

In goal, Lyndsey McIntyre faced just two shots on goal in recording her second shutout in three matches.

The Trojans return to action Saturday when Mount Olive travels to Spartanburg, S.C. to meet Converse. Match time is 7 p.m.

Coker sweeps MOC

MOUNT OLIVE -- Mount Olive fought off one match point and had a chance to force a fourth set, but the Trojans fell to Coker 25-19, 25-15, 27-25 in a Conference Carolinas women's volleyball match at Kornegay Arena.

Erika Conner notched her second double-double of the season with match highs of 12 kills and 16 digs.

After dropping the first two sets, Mount Olive (4-7 overall, 1-3 CC) rode the serving of Lauren Lee and Charnel Austin for a 9-1 run and an 11-6 lead in the third set. Coker (6-5, 3-1) rallied to tie the set 13-13 after a four-point run that included three blocks by Hannah Vadakin and an ace by Samantha Celek.

Kills by Conner and Dezirae Mackey helped the Trojans build the lead back to 21-17, but three straight kills by Coker's Katie McElveen put the Cobras on top 24-23, their first lead since 5-4. A Coker attack error saved a match point and Keri Nolan's kill put Mount Olive within a point of winning the set. But after a Coker side out, McElveen's kill put the Cobras back on top and an attack error ended the match.

Coker scored the first four points of the opening set and Mount Olive never got any closer than three the remainder of the set. In the second set, McElveen served back-to-back aces during an 8-0 run to break a 2-2 tie and put Coker ahead to stay.

Laura Vega recorded 19 assists for Mount Olive, while Mackey and Carly White had seven kills apiece. Destiny Ma'ave Kuewa had both Trojan service aces, back-to-back in the first set. Mackey and Talita Rocha tallied three blocks apiece. Conner's 16 digs were a career high.

McElveen led a balanced Coker attack with seven kills. Kelly Stine recorded 17 assists and a match-high four aces, while Samantha Celek added 11 assists and two aces. Vadakin had a match-high five blocks.

Mount Olive returns to action Friday as the Trojans play host to Queens in a Conference Carolinas match-up. First serve is 7 p.m. at Kornegay Arena.