YHC Men’s soccer blacked out of first victory (UPDATE)

by Ethan Burch, Sports Editor
with information from wire reports

MARIETTA, GA — On Wednesday, the Mountain Lions of Young Harris College led No. 22 Southern Polytechnic State University, 1-0 at Neusoft Technologies Field in what looked to be the first win of the season for YHC. The possible win was taken away, however, as lightning forced two delays and the game was stopped with 31:28 remaining, leaving both teams left in the dark with no result.

Southern Poly (2-2-2) dominated the first half by out-shooting Young Harris, 10-5, but the Mountain Lions would take one defensive mistake and play it in their favor.

In the 43^rd minute, the ball was not cleared far enough by Sothern Poly and YHC senior Luis Salases was able to control the ball in the attacking third of the field. After beating his defender, Salaises dished the ball off to YHC freshman Niall McCabe. McCabe was able to fire successfully from 25 yards out to give the Mountain Lions a 1-0 lead.

“Niall had a great goal,” said YHC Head Coach Mark McKeever. ” He has really stepped up to the plate for his team this season.”

Sophomore Wezley Barnard had six saves in goal for Young Harris (0-3-3), while Eric Ati of Southern Poly recorded two.

Lightning forced the game to be stopped around 6:25 p.m., and when players returned to the field at 7:05, both teams were going through warm-ups when lightning forced the second delay. Not only was it a weather issue, but time was a factor as Southern Poly doesn’t have lights and the match was deemed unplayable due to dark skies.

“This was pretty frustrating,” said McKeever. “The guys worked very hard and were looking for their first victory.”

Because the match was stopped before the 70^th minute, the game does not count as an official contest, and no statistics were recorded.

“This was not our best performance this season,” said McKeever. “We hope that the momentum from this game will carry over to our next.”

The Mountain Lions, seeking their first win of the season, return to action 1:00 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 25 at Coker College.

UPDATE1 (9:42 p.m., 09/22/10): Added quotes from head coach Mark McKeever.