UMO LACROSSE: Trojans overwhelm Cobras in historic victory

By Ben Coley
Published in Sports on February 11, 2017 11:14 PM

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bcoley@newsargus.com

MOUNT OLIVE -- Immediately after winning the opening draw, University of Mount Olive midfielder Kiara Burke sprinted toward Coker College's goal.

The freshman sliced through the defense and slammed the ball into the net. Fourteen seconds into the game, history was made.

Burke's goal was the first-ever score on the Ray McDonald, Sr. Track and Field/Lacrosse Complex on Saturday afternoon. It was also the beginning of a dominant 17-6 victory for the Trojans.

"I mean it's great," said UMO head coach Grant Kelam, regarding the historic game."I've been here since the start of this program in general, so it's been a pleasure to be a part of all the history...It felt good to get up and down this field in a competitive way."

The Trojans' offensive attack pressured the Cobras all game. After five minutes of play, UMO already held a 4-0 lead. Coker -- which had trouble establishing rhythm -- didn't get its first goal until the 18:15 minute mark of the first half.

UMO gave Coker no time to celebrate its first goal. Forty-two seconds later, Michaela Ciciarelli found Kali Cook-Grisewood for UMO's fifth score.

By halftime, the Trojans held a 9-1 advantage. Six different players accounted for the nine goals by UMO in the half.

"We're young and learning," Kelam said. "I'm not necessarily concerned with the amount of goals, I'm concerned about how many are assisted and how many players score and are a part of that offense so you don't become one-dimensional."

Little changed for the Trojans in the second half.

The Cobras' Faith Kent opened the second half with a goal, but UMO's Jackie Kaderabek responded with a score just 10 seconds later. The Trojans went on to score seven of the game's next 11 goals.

UMO's 17-goal performance comes on the heels of a 25-goal outing against Barton on Feb. 3. Eight different Trojans tallied at least one goal against Coker. Saffron Snethen and Cook-Grisewood led with three goals apiece.

"That's fantastic stuff," Kelam said. "Any time that we can get that kind of spread on offense, it makes us really difficult to defend as we go down the line because you have people trying to pick and choose who you want to take away. And if that opens up space for someone else, great.

"We're going to take that."

The women's lacrosse program -- now in its fifth year -- has never dropped a home opener. The Trojans have also won their first two games in four of those five seasons.

Kelam offered no clear expectations for the team this season. He simply wants his team to improve with each game.

"Our expectations are to play the best Trojan lacrosse that we can," Kelam said. "We got a little ahead of ourselves last year...so right now, our main focus is us. And as long as we're better tomorrow than we're today, we're headed into the right direction."