UMO

By Allen Etzler
Published in Sports on April 26, 2015 1:45 PM

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UMO media relations

GAFFNEY, S.C. -- Riann Daziel scored four goals as second-seeded and nationally 12th-ranked University of Mount Olive defeated No. 3 seed Pfeiffer University 13-7 in the semifinal round of the 2015 Conference Carolinas Women's Lacrosse Tournament Saturday at Gaffney, S.C.

The win puts the Trojans in the championship game for the first time in the three year history of the UMO women's lacrosse program.

Mount Olive (14-3) scored three goals in a span of 42 seconds midway through the first half to break open a close game.

Five minutes after Saffron Snethen's goal broke a 1-1 tie, Katie McGovern and Claire Wigler scored goals 23 seconds apart to give the Trojans a 4-1 lead with 18:04 left in the first half.

Daziel followed with her first goal of the contest 19 seconds later.

The score remained the same until Snethen put home another goal with 7:20 remaining. Alysha Kulka scored with 57 seconds left and Daziel added a goal with five seconds remaining in the half to give the Trojans an 8-1 halftime lead.

Wigler added a goal 25 seconds into the second half to cap Mount Olive's 8-0 run. Pfeiffer (10-7) scored less than a minute later to end the Trojans' scoring run, but Kulka and Daziel added two goals apiece as Mount Olive maintained an eight-goal lead until the final three minutes of the contest.

Trojan goalkeeper Hannah Knight recorded 10 saves.

Mount Olive advances to the championship game against top-seeded and tournament host Limestone, which edged Belmont Abbey 15-11 in Saturday's other semifinal.

The Trojans fell to the nationally ninth-ranked Saints 9-6 during the regular season.

Sunday's game time is 4 p.m. and follows the men's championship game, which also pits Mount Olive against Limestone.

Men on to finals

Matt Shields scored two timely goals as University Mount Olive defeated Pfeiffer University 14-13 in double overtime in the opening round of the Conference Carolinas Men's Lacrosse Tournament Friday in Gaffney, S.C. Mount Olive used two late goals to move into the Championship game Saturday.

Mount Olive (11-4) picked up the opening goal as Alex Tindall found the back of the net off a pass from Jake Duarte. The Trojans tacked on three more goals before the run was stopped.

Pfeiffer (10-5) did not allow Mount Olive to score again in the first quarter as the Falcons went on a 6-0 run to end the quarter. The Falcons then used two man-up opportunities as Cole Paciejewski scored twice in a matter of :34 to move Pfeiffer ahead 8-3.

The Trojans did what Pfeiffer did to end the first half as they went on a 5-0 run to tie the game headed into the break.

The third quarter saw both squads exchanging goals in what ended in another tie after the horn blew. The fourth began with a goal by Pfeiffer's Paciejewski. Nine minutes went by before another shot made it in the goal. Tucker Hammock with 3:52 left in the final quarter scored and put the Falcons up 13-11.

As time was ticking down Mount Olive looked to strike. Nico Shewey scored with under three minutes to play. The Trojans need one goal to tie the game and they just that off the stick of Shields with 1:42 left in the game. The Trojan defense held off Pfeiffer and forced overtime.

No goals resulted in the first overtime so the game moved into double overtime. Once more as the clocked ticked away the Trojans looked for a good shot and Jacob Ball found Shields for the game-winning goal with two minutes left and Mount Olive defeated Pfeiffer.

Deffensively for Mount Olive, Tyler Feniello led the team with nine groundballs. Jon Williams forced two turnovers and picked up four groundballs. Shields finished the day with seven goals off 17 shots, 10 on goal and two groundballs. Spencer Gelinas, Luke Dalman, Alex Tindall, Bret Kingston, and Ball all contributed one goal. Shewey added two goals as well.

Mount olive moves to the Conference Carolinas Championship game against defending National Champions Limestone College Saturday April 25 at 1 p.m. During the games the 2015 All-Conference teams were announced as Mount Olive picked up seven honors.

Track champs

BANNER ELK, N.C. - The University of Mount Olive became Conference Carolinas Champions for a second time this year as the Trojans won the Conference Carolinas Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championship in Banner Elk, N.C.

Mount Olive took first place in four events in day one. Aerostata Brown took gold in the triple jump with a distance of 11.69m. Nicole Poppe took gold in the hammer throw with a distance of 47.90m.