YOUNG HARRIS – The Young Harris College men’s soccer team struck first, but couldn’t hold on as the Mountain Lions dropped a heartbreaker, 2-1, to Christian Brothers Friday night at YHC Soccer Field.
Young Harris (0-2-1) attacked from the start and got its first goal of the season in the 7th minute. Niall McCabe’s corner kick from the left side of the field was knocked away to James Thorpe on the left side of the penalty area. His cross found Lucian Johnson on the back post with a header to give the Mountain Lions a 1-0 lead.
Christian Brothers (1-2) responded in the 29th minute as Michael Hollier’s pass found a streaking Gideon Leteyian down the right side. Leteyian beat the defeat on the touchline and his pass was knocked away from Young Harris goalkeeper Wezley Barnard, but to the feet of Alex Bermel, who struck it into the back of the net to tie the game at 1.
The game remained tied until the 68th minute when Ashley Walker was whistled for a handball inside the penalty area. Andrew Ballard’s penalty shot beat Barnard to the right side to give the Buccaneers a 2-1 advantage.
As time dwindled down, Young Harris brought more players forward and nearly scored the tying goal in the final seconds as Andreas Pechmann’s shot with one second remaining banged of the right post.
Young Harris out-shot Christian Brothers, 17-12 and had a 2-1 advantage on corner kicks.
Barnard recorded five saves, while Daniel Johnson finished with a pair of saves for the Buccaneers.
The Mountain Lions travel 7:00 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 11 to Greenville, Tenn., to take on Tusculum. The game can be viewed through live stats at: http://tusculumpioneers.athleticsite.net/livestats/ms/xlive.htm
