Mount Olive tops Newberry

MOUNT OLIVE – Behind four different goal scorers on Tuesday afternoon, the University of Mount Olive field hockey team registered a 4-1 victory over Newberry in South Atlantic Conference play at Ray McDonald Sr. Sports Complex.

With the win, the Trojans improved to 5-2 in division play behind a 5-0 record in league action. Mount Olive has now recorded five straight victories and remains undefeated at home this year. Meanwhile, the Wolves dropped to 6-4 this season with a 3-2 mark in conference action.

Sophomore Morgan Paterson  opened the game with a goal at the 7:36 mark off a rebounded pass by freshman Nikki Los for a 1-0 lead. Under two minutes later, the UMO offense drew a penalty corner before freshman Jule Schuurman fired a shot at the top of the circle. Junior Avery Congletonn redirected the ball to the back of the cage for to make the score 2-0.

To close the quarter, Bos saw an opportunity from outside the circle and crossed the ball to junior McKenzie Conroy. With a touch of Conroy’s stick, she put the ball past the Newberry keeper at the 13:28 mark to stretch the advantage to 3-0. At the start of the second quarter, Mount Olive saw a scoring opportunity by Bos, but the Wolves goalie redirected the ball. Off the rebound, sophomore Jinte Steenbeeke gained control of the ball and took a shot at the 20:40-mark of the match. The ball flew high and passed by the Newberry defense, bringing the advantage to 4-0.

At the start of the second half, both teams worked hard to try and achieve another goal, but the game remained scoreless in the third quarter. With a valiant effort by the UMO defense, Newberry only managed six shots on goal. Newberry was awarded their third penalty corner of the game at the 55:52 mark before the Wolves scored their only goal of the match by freshman Sydney Marchese, assisted by teammate Lieke Varenkamp, 4-1.

Sophomore goalkeeper Alanna Barrett secured the win and collected three saves on 12 attempts in 55:43 minutes of action. Freshman Amanda Parr entered the contest for the final four-plus minutes and collected two saves on four shots faced.

Mount Olive held a 16-9 shot advantage, including a 9-6 lead in shots on goal, while Newberry posted a 4-3 edge in penalty corners.