Mountain Lions can’t recover from big deficit in loss

Information from wire reports

CLEVELAND, Ga. – The Young Harris College men’s basketball team fell behind early and nearly rallied back from an 18-point first-half deficit, but fell Saturday afternoon to Truett McConnell, 94-74.

Frank Adams led the Mountain Lions with 21 points, including going 11-of-12 from the free-throw line. Bryson Robertson had 19 points and 14 rebounds for a double-double and Steve Viterbo finished with 17 points and nine boards. Matt Preston dished out a team-high seven assists as Young Harris was 23-of-65 from the floor for 35 percent.

The Mountain Lions (3-12) trailed, 22-12, but cut the deficit to 24-19 with 7:43 remaining in the opening half as Young Harris sank five free throws during that span.

However, the Bears (8-9) used a 19-6 run during the next six minutes to grab a 43-25 advantage and Truett McConnell led, 45-27, at the half.

The Mountain Lions trimmed the double-digit deficit to 62-56 on a pair of free throws by Viterbo with 9:45 remaining, but Truett McConnell put the game away with a 28-12 run during the next seven minutes.

Roderick Bombard paced the Bears with 25 points on 8-of-16 shooting and handed out a team-high six assists. Deric Ware and Tre Dudley each had 15 points, while Tulio Yamasita recorded 12 points. Tyron Louis finished with a team-high 11 rebounds as Truett McConnell shot 51 percent (35-of-69).

Young Harris concludes its four-game road trip 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 26 against Berry College.

Young Harris falls on the road to King College

Information from wire reports

BRISTOL, Tenn. – The Young Harris College women’s basketball team surrendered a big run to start the second half in falling to King College, 71-55, on Saturday.

LaDondra Johnson paced Young Harris (5-9) with 23 points by going 11-for-16 from the floor, and also finished with seven rebounds. Breanna Gleeson added eight points and Lauren Smith chipped in with seven. Young Harris shot 44 percent (23-for-52) from the field.

King (6-15) led, 28-24, at the half, and came out in the second half and built a 51-28 lead. The Mountain Lions, who saw their four-game winning streak snapped, trimmed the deficit to 15 twice, but couldn’t get any closer.

Derika Mooney had a team-best 16 points for King, while pulling down six rebounds, dished out three assists and recorded five steals. Jessica Tharpe finished with 13 points as the Lady Tornado were 27-for-60 for 45 percent.

Young Harris concludes its three-game road trip 5:30 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 26 in Rome, Ga., against Berry College.

YHC women’s soccer battles back for tie

By Ethan Burch, Sports Editor
with information from wire reports

YOUNG HARRIS– On Wed. Oct.3, it appeared that one goal, scored early in the contest, would hold the Young Harris College women’s soccer team from any chance at making the game even.

After 70 minutes of play, however, the Lady Mountain Lions would overcome that obstacle to finish the match-up with Shorter College in a 1-1 tie.

The game began with a goal scored in the first eight seconds by Shorter College’s Brandi Greenwald. The goal was scored off an assist by Rachel Wood to give Shorter (10-7-1) a 1-0 lead.

The Lady Hawks of Shorter held onto their lead all the way into the second half, but they faced a Young Harris squad that had every intention of tying the game.

In the 70th minute, YHC sophomore forward Mika Lopes started the rally by making a pass into the penalty area to sophomore Haley Holderfield. The first shot by Holderfield was stopped by Shorter goalkeeper Taylor Hays, but the ball would be returned to Holderfield off of the deflection. Her second shot found the back of the net to tie the game up at 1-1.

The score remained tied at 1 heading into overtime, and the Mountain Lions (9-5-2) nearly won the game five minutes into the extra frame as YHC junior Emily Villas missed a potential game-winning shot just left of the post, keeping the contest tied, 1-1.

Freshman goalkeeper Gabby Smith finished with five saves in goal for Young Harris, while Hays recorded eight for Shorter College.

The Lady Hawks out-shot the Mountain Lions, 18-16, but Young Harris had the overall advantage in corner kicks, 5-3.

YHC men’s soccer ends season with 4-0 loss

By Ethan Burch, Sports Editor
with information from wire reports

YOUNG HARRIS– On Wed. Oct. 3, the Young Harris College men’s soccer team ended their season with a 4-0 loss at home to Berry College.

The Vikings (13-1-1) took a 1-0 lead in the 9^th minute as Dino Ceric and Jorg Bermann assisted on a goal by Chris Capati to give Berry a 1-0 lead.

Berry extended their lead to 2-0 on a free kick in the 19^th minute off of an own goal that bounced off of a Young Harris player.

Berry pushed the advantage to 3-0 as Daniel Wartner scored his first goal of the game off of an assist by Dino Ceric in the 25^th minute.

The Vikings put the game out of reach in the 55^th as Ceric assisted on a Bermann goal on a 2-on-1 breakaway to give Berry a 4-0 lead.

Sophomore goalkeeper Wezley Barnard finished with three saves for Young Harris (2-9-4), while Kevin Madigan had two saves in the first half for Berry College and was replaced by Sam Alexander in the second half, who recorded one save.

The Vikings out-shot the Mountain Lions 23-7 and had a 6-3 advantage on corner kicks.

Clayton State tops Mountain Lions, 3-1

By Ethan Burch, Sports Editor
with information from wire reports

MORROW, GA—On Sat., the Young Harris College men’s soccer team fell on the road to #8 Clayton State University by a score of 3-1.

In the 7^th minute, Jonathan McKeever of Clayton State (13-2) scored an early goal to give the Lakers a 1-0 lead. The shot was fired just out of reach for YHC sophomore goalkeeper Wezley Barnard for the goal and was assisted by Arturo Cruz.

Clayton State extended their lead to 2-0 in the 13^th minute as Leighton Frederick would score the team’s second goal of the game with the help of Ryan Pugh and Matt Phillips on the assist.

YHC (2-7-4) cut the margin in the 25^th minute as YHC sophomore forward Andreas Pechmann was able to put a shot into the back of the net to cut the lead to 2-1.

Clayton State, however, would extend their lead in the 75^th minute with a goal by Frederick to give him his second score of the game and a 3-1 Lakers lead. The goal was assisted by Cruz and McKeever.

YHC sophomore defender Ashley Walker came close to slicing into the lead in the 85^th minute, but his shot off of a corner kick was off target and Clayton State would remain on top, 3-1.

Barnard finished with five saves, while Brian Garcia did not record a save for Clayton State.

The Lakers out-shot the Mountain Lions, 17-3, and had a narrow 4-3 edge on corner kicks.

Young Harris concludes the home portion of its schedule 3:30 p.m., Wednesday, October 27^th at the YHC Soccer Field against Berry College.

Lady Mountain Lions rise above Lambuth

By Ethan Burch, Sports Editor
with information from wire reports

YOUNG HARRIS — On Saturday, the Lady Mountain Lions soccer team of Young Harris College earned a 2-1 victory at home over the visiting Lambuth University from Jackson, Tenn.

Junior forward Rachel Wilkes of YHC scored the game-winning goal in the 77^th minute to break a tie, giving the Lady Mountain Lions their second goal of the game to finish with a score of 2-1.

The Lady Mountain Lions (7-4-1) wasted little time in scoring first by capitalizing on an own goal in the second minute of the game.

Lambuth (3-8) battled back and tied the game in the 73^rd minute when Malissa Gallogy scored off of a pass by Pam Grega’s that soared past YHC junior goalkeeper Allie Matulia to tie the game at 1-1.

Wilkes broke the tie in the 77^th minute with a goal assisted by Kelsey Battle that was out of reach for Lambuth goalkeeper Rachel Harlass. The goal by Wilkes gave the Lady Mountain Lions a 2-1 lead.

The Mountain Lions outshot the Lady Eagles, 16-5, including 8-1 in the first half. Young Harris also led Lambuth 7-0 in corner kicks for the game.

YHC’s junior goalkeeper Allie Matulia recorded three saves, while Rachel Harlass of Lambuth had six.

The Mountain Lions return to action 7:00 p.m., Tuesday, October 26 at Peach Belt Conference to take on Clayton State University.

YHC men’s soccer on a roll

By Ethan Burch, Sports Editor
with information from wire reports

YOUNG HARRIS—On Saturday, the Young Harris College men’s soccer team posted their second victory of the season against Erskine College. This win is the Mountain Lions’ second win of the week and give the team its first win streak of the season.

Junior midfielder Trevor Monroe led the game in scoring with two goals, while freshman Niall McCabe scored one goal to put the game away late for the Mountain Lions. This performance by the team resulted in a 3-1 victory for YHC to give them a record of 2-4-4 on the season.

The Mountain Lions opened the scoring in the 15th minute as Monroe fired a shot underneath Erskine goalkeeper Robert de la Vina. Monroe’s score gave Young Harris an early 1-0 lead.

The score remained 1-0 until the 58th minute when Monroe again found the back of the net off of an assist by sophomore defender Thomas Crosby to give the Mountain Lions a 2-0 advantage.

In the 62nd minute, Erskine’s Jonathan Rutter picked up his second yellow card of the match and was sent out, giving YHC the man advantage.

But it was the Flying Fleet of Erskine College that took control of the momentum in the game by getting a goal in the 63rd minute by Brady Johnson with an assist by Matt Sluga.

Erskine had a chance to tie the game in the 68th minute when Lucian Johnson was whistled for a foul in the penalty arena. The penalty shot by Jack Kimber was unsuccessful though, as the Mountain Lions held on to a 2-1 lead.

McCabe sealed the victory for YHC in the 82nd minute off of a half-volley shot into the back of the net which gave the Mountain Lions a 3-1 advantage.

Wezley Barnard recorded seven saves for YHC, while de la Vina had three for Erskine (6-5).

YHC held a slim 15-13 margin in shots and for the first time all season, the Mountain Lions failed to have a corner kick as Erskine dominated that category, 11-0.

The game featured 28 total fouls and nine total yellow cards.

Young Harris returns to action 5:00 p.m., Friday, Oct. 15 at the YHC Soccer Field against Thomas University.