Mount Olive, N.C. – The Catawba College men's lacrosse team battled back from an early deficit against the Mount Olive Trojans, but were unable to pull away victorious as the Trojans emerged with a 13-10 home victory in Catawba head coach Mike Murphy's first game back in Mount Olive after a 10-year stint as head coach of the Trojans.
TEAM STATS
- Catawba outshot Mount Olive, 36-35, but the Trojans were able to put 23 attempts on goal compared to 18 for Catawba. Five of Mount Olive's goals were assisted, while the number for Catawba was three
- Both teams had 17 clears, and Mount Olive just won the faceoff battle, 14-13
- Mount Olive caused nine turnovers to Catawba's two, along with recovering more ground balls, 27-22
- Catawba's James Crighton led the game in saves with 10, though he was unable to earn the win and is now 1-1 on the season. Mount Olive's Kurtis Lensing tallied eight stops to improve to 1-1
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
- Peyton Turner led the charge for Catawba with a career-high four goals and four points, while Bakari Neely and Jordan Dash each added a pair of goals in the effort. Frank Cetrone and Garrett Simi also found the back of the net
- Cetrone, Dash, and Simi also recorded an assist each to tie for the team-high
- Turner's 10 shots led all players, while Neely and Dash each attempted six and Cetrone had five attempts. Turner put six of his shots on target, while Neely, Cetrone, and Dash all tested Lensing three times
- Defensively, Dylan Cienfeugos recovered a game-high six ground balls, with Turner and Payton Leonard each notching two of their own. Caleb Richardson and Trent Bellotte each caused a turnover
- Cienfeugos would finish the game 13-26 in the faceoff circle
HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST QUARTER
- The Trojans drew first blood after two minutes through Peter Chapman, before Aidan Lalone struck twice in the span of 1:51 to make it 3-0 Mount Olive with 7:10 to go in the first period
- Mount Olive would go up 4-0 before Neely put Catawba on the board with 1:53 left in the first, as the opening 15:00 saw the Trojans off to a fast 4-1 start
SECOND QUARTER
- Catawba's fight back would begin in a gritty, low-scoring second period that saw just three total goals. With just over four minutes gone, Turner would find the back of the net for the first time after being picked out by Simi
- Simi would turn from provider to scorer with 7:53 to go until the half, pulling Catawba to within one with the score at 3-4. But a hectic minute would see Mount Olive's Hudson Karasek make it a two-score game again just :39 seconds later
- After seven scoreless minutes following that frenzied sequence, Mount Olive would head to halftime up 5-3 over Catawba
THIRD QUARTER
- Both sides traded blows in a back-and-forth third quarter, each side seemingly having the answer for each other. Cetrone, coming off of a monster outing last week, put himself on the scoresheet at the 13:11 mark only for Mount Olive's Chance Urban to answer at 12:26
- A similar sequence happened again a few minutes later, with Neely notching his second goal to pull Catawba back to within one at 7:45 only for Chaz Goodman to make it 7-5 Mount Olive 37 seconds later in another quick sequence
- Turner found the mark again with 5:30 to go in the quarter, and while Mount Olive again responded at the 2:20 mark, Dash cut the lead right back to one just 38 seconds later to set up a contested finish with Mount Olive up 8-7
FOURTH QUARTER
- Dash wasn't done just yet, nailing his second goal in under three minutes of game time after being assisted by Cetrone to make it 8-8
- With 9:40 to go in the game, Dash would be involved yet again, assisting Turner's third goal as Catawba took their first lead of the afternoon
- It would be short-lived, however, as the Trojans answered through Karasek only 30 seconds later. Jack Lewis made it 10-9 Mount Olive with 7:44 to go
- Turner struck again for his fourth and Catawba's 10th goal to level the game again with 6:18 to go
- That would be all for Catawba, however, as Mount Olive took a lead they would not relinquish with 2:44 to go and added another two goals in quick succession afterwards. The Trojans would take a thrilling contest, 13-10
UP NEXT
- Catawba men's lacrosse is back in action on Saturday, Feb. 17, heading to Belmont, N.C. to take on the Belmont Abbey Crusaders in a showdown scheduled for 1 p.m.
