UMO comes from behind to defeat Men’s Lacrosse in season opener

Salisbury, N.C. —- The Catawba College men's lacrosse team held the halftime lead over the University of Mount Olive on Saturday afternoon at Shuford Stadium, but the Trojans came from behind to take the victory, 9-6. UMO improves to 1-1, while Catawba drops to 0-1 on the young season.

Jackson Braswell and Jordan Dash led the way for the Catawba Indians with two goals apiece offensively in what was a defensive battle. Yaz Stroud and Garrett Simi were the other goal scorers, while Bakari Neely, Matt Mitchell and Joey Lindner recorded assists. Chapman Parker was the only Trojan to record multiple goals with two scores.

Catawba out-shot Mount Olive 44-24 on the afternoon, but Jacob Brown made 14 saves on the afternoon. The Catawba Indians did forced UMO to commit 24 turnovers to their 16, and limited the Trojans to 12 shots on goal. 

Mount Olive scored the only two goals of the first quarter, but Catawba answered back with four straight goals in the second from Stroud, Braswell, Dash and Simi. The Trojans responded with a score of their own with 12 seconds left in the half to cut their deficit to 4-3 at the midway point.

The Trojans took the lead in the third quarter, scoring all of the period's four goals to take a 7-4 lead with 15 minutes left. Dash scored his second goal of the contest less than a minute in, but UMO responded with back-to-back scores to put the game out of reach.

The Catawba Indians return to Shuford Stadium next Saturday, hosting #16 Belmont Abbey for a 1 p.m. start.