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.

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.