Mount Olive defeats Wingate
MOUNT OLIVE – Behind three different goal scorers, the Trojans earned a 4-2 field hockey victory over Wingate in South Atlantic Conference action Sept. 24 at the Ray McDonald Sr. Sports Complex.
With the win, UMO improved to 2-3 this season with a 2-0 mark in conference play. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs fell to 0-6 overall behind a 0-3 record in league action in their inaugural season as a program.
In the first quarter, Wingate freshman Emma George tallied the opening goal at the 4:30 mark. Less than two minutes later, Mount Olive broke through the Bulldog circle, and earned a penalty corner. Sophomore Jinte Steenbeeke directed a pass to senior Rainy King, who found the back of the cage in the 7th minute to make the score 1-1. With the UMO offense pushing hard, the Trojans earned another penalty corner in the closing minutes of the quarter. From the insert, a shot was taken by freshman Jule Schuurman at the top of the circle before sophomore Morgan Paterson redirected the ball passed the Wingate goalie at the 9:17-mark of the match to give UMO a 2-1 lead.
In the second quarter, the fourth penalty corner of the match for UMO opened another goal scoring opportunity. Sophomore Annefleur Moerkerken scored her first goal of the season in the 19th minute off a pass from junior Avery Congleton to put Mount Olive ahead 3-1. Mount Olive controlled the match heading into halftime as Wingate attempted zero shots in the second quarter.
With less than five minutes left in the third quarter, graduate student Zoe Summa cut into the deficit with a goal at the 41:11-mark to bring the score to 3-2. Closing out the quarter, a pass off the stick of freshman Natasha Elder connected with Paterson, who scored for her second goal of the game in the 45th minute and put the Trojans ahead 4-2. Wingate kept pressing against the Trojans to try and level the match but was unable to convert on their final two penalty corner chances.
Sophomore goalkeeper Alanna Barrett earned the victory and faced seven shots in the match in 60 minutes of play. The Trojans held a 25-7 shot advantage, including a 15-2 lead in shots on goal, while also recording an 11-7 edge in penalty corners.
