Mount Olive men's soccer makes history, advances in CVAC Tournament

By Gabe Whisnant
Published in Sports on November 4, 2004 1:58 PM

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MOUNT OLIVE -- Mount Olive College senior midfielder Warren Atkins jogged toward the sideline following a 4-0 win over Barton on Wednesday to shake the hand of Athletics Director Dr. Mac Cassell.

After three years of falling in the first round of the Caro-linas-Virginia Athletic Confer-ence tournament, Atkins, one of only four Mount Olive seniors, and the Trojans advanced to the semifinals.

A smiling Atkins summed up his feelings with one simple word -- "finally."

The fourth-seeded Trojans (13-5-2), who snapped a three-game losing streak, move on to face No. 1 seed Queens in the semifinals at Belmont Abbey Saturday at 9:30 a.m. The final four berth is Mount Olive's first since 1996.

"This is a great win for us. For the seniors, for the program and to get these young kids a taste of the final four atmosphere," Mount Olive coach Jerry Riggs said. "It's been a great year. We're happy we're there and we hope it doesn't end."

The young Trojans took just a 1-0 lead into halftime against the Bulldogs, who had won five-straight CVAC games going into Tuesday's match. Barton's last loss was a 7-0 drubbing at Trojan Field on Sept. 15.

Eastern Wayne graduate Cory Worrell's goal on a header in the eighth minute on a perfectly-placed corner kick from the left side by Chris Jasso proved to be the only