UMO cruises by Emmanuel in quarterfinals

MOUNT OLIVE – In the quarterfinals of the Conference Carolinas Championships, the University of Mount Olive men’s lacrosse team topped Emmanuel 22-4 on April 24 at the Ray McDonald Sr. Sports Complex, while earning its largest margin of victory this season.

With the win, the No. 3 seeded Trojans improved to 7-7 overall, punching their ticket to a semifinal match on Thursday, March 24 versus North Greenville at 7 p.m. Meanwhile, the No. 6 seed Lions finish their season with a 2-13 record.

Emmanuel was first to get on the board as it netted a goal at the 11:01-mark of the first quarter, 1-0. Soon after, UMO went on a three-goal run. The first Mount Olive goal was scored by junior Aidan Lalonde at the 8:45 mark, 1-1. With just under four minutes left in the quarter, Lalonde found senior Samuel Skousen to score the second goal, 2-1. With 12 seconds remaining of the quarter, senior Chaz Goodman threw a crisp pass to freshman Benjamin Vanderkley who scored his first of the game, 3-1.

In the second quarter, EC scored at the 13:26 mark to bring the game within one, 3-2. The Trojan offense then took control and shut the Lions out for most of the remainder of the game. Graduate student Mike Marto was first to initiate a stretch of 16-straight goals as he won the face-off and charged straight to the goal, scoring his third of the season, 4-2. Closing the second quarter, Mount Olive saw two goals each from Vanderkley and graduate student Braydon Hickey and goals from junior Chapman Parker and Lalonde to lead 10-2 at halftime.

Going into the second half, UMO was dominant as they won more than 70 percent of the face-offs in the third quarter. Scoring his first goal of the game, senior Chance Urban put one past the keeper, 11-2. With consecutive man-up opportunities, Lalonde and Parker both scored off assists by Goodman, 13-2. Scoring his fourth goal of the game, Vanderkley dodged his defender and scored another goal, 14-2. Just eight seconds later, Vanderkley found the back of the cage, scoring a season-high five goals, 15-2. Closing the third quarter, Urban scored his second goal of the game, 16-2.

In the last quarter, junior Matthew Ateshian scored at the 11:55 mark, 17-2. Scoring his first goal of the year, freshman Hudson Karasek netted one into the cage, 18-2. Fellow freshman Joshua Dewart also added his name to the scoresheet as he scored his first goal of the year, 19-2. At the 3:07 mark, Emmanuel scored its third goal of the game, 19-3. In response, a pass from senior Tristen Dempers found sophomore Caleb Tatum to score his first of the game, 20-3. Less than a minute later, the Lions scored their final goal of the match, 20-4. With back-to-back goals from Dewart, he completed the hat trick. The Trojans sealed the 22-4 victory and secured their spot in the semifinal game.

Vanderkley finished the game with a season-high six points with five goals and one assist. Lalonde and Dewart both earned hat tricks. Goodman also finished with a career-high of five assists.

Goalkeeper Jacob Brown finished with six saves in 45:00 minutes of play. Freshmen Kurtis Lensing and Jack Isaacs also saw action between the pipes and they collected a total of five saves.

— From University of Mount Olive Athletics