WILSON, N.C. – The Barton men's soccer team (5-3, 4-1) suffered its first loss in Conference Carolinas play with a 2-0 setback to Mount Olive (8-3, 6-0) in a league showdown Wednesday night at the Bulldogs Athletic Complex.
Mount Olive's Ethan Willie (Nassau, BAHAMAS) opened the scoring in the 22nd minute while Alfie Pope (London, ENGLAND) scored his conference-leading 10th goal of the season just 33 seconds into the second half to help the Trojans take control and hold off the Bulldogs for the win.
Mount Olive's Roberto Hernandez (Edinburg, Texas) assisted on both scores with long passes. Barton lost despite a 22-13 advantage in shots taken but saw its three-match winning streak snapped.
In goal, Mount Olive's Axel Engren (Sundsvall, SWEDEN) earned the shutout win to go along with seven saves while Barton junior
Jacob Randolph (Metairie, La.) suffered the loss in goal. Randolph stopped four shots on the night.
In the next round of Conference Carolinas contests on Saturday for both squads, Barton travels to Tigerville, S.C., to play North Greenville at 1:30 p.m., while Mount Olive visits Due West, S.C., for a date with Erskine beginning at 12:30 p.m.
