Trojans roll past Belmont Abbey

BELMONT – After scoring three times in the second half on Tuesday night, the Trojans rolled past Belmont Abbey on the road behind a 4-0 shutout victory in Conference Carolinas play.

With the win, the University of Mount Olive men’s soccer team improved to 9-5 overall with a 6-3 mark in league action. The Trojans now sit second in the conference standings with 18 points heading into the final stretch of the regular season. Meanwhile, the Crusaders fell to 1-8-3 this season with a 0-4-3 record in conference play.

Belmont Abbey pressed the attacking side of the pitch early in the first half, totaling four shots and one corner kick over 21-plus minutes. The Crusaders nearly broke through in the 29th minute when an attempt hit the crossbar. After a yellow card set-up a close range free-kick, junior Walter Gomez blasted it past the goalkeeper to give the Trojans a 1-0 advantage at the 31:15-mark.

In the second half, Mount Olive wasted little time adding to the lead after a free-kick cross into the box was deflected in by a Crusader defender for an own goal in the 48th minute to put Mount Olive ahead 2-0. The Trojans managed to stretch the advantage at the 54:05 mark on a goal by sophomore Guilherme Semola after he chipped it over the keeper to make it a 3-0 lead. UMO added a final goal at the 84:00-mark after freshman Joao Barboza Filho stole the ball form a defender and buried it into the bottom left-corner of the net for a 4-0 lead.

Sophomore goalkeeper Axel Engren notched the shutout win after totaling four saves on 13 shots faced in 90 minutes between the posts.

Belmont Abbey held a 13-7 shot advantage, including a 4-3 edge in shots on goal, while also posting a 4-3 edge in corner kicks.