DAHLONEGA, Ga. – The Young Harris College women’s soccer team fell behind early and couldn’t recover as North Georgia College & State University downed the Mountain Lions, 6-0, Wednesday night at the Soccer Complex.

North Georgia (2-1) nearly made it 1-0 just three minutes into the game Kelsey Martin took a through ball from Lauren Schenk and put her shot on goal as Allie Matulia made the save. Matulia had another spectacular save, diving to her left on a shot by Martin in the 10^th minute.

The Lady Saints, who out-shot the Mountain Lions, 24-7, broke through the Young Harris defense in the 12^th minute as Danielle Brannan collected the ball inside the penalty area from Samantha Abrahart and slid it past Matulia for the goal to give North Georgia a 1-0 advantage.

After a stop by the Mountain Lions forced a corner kick, North Georgia took advantage of the set piece as Abrahart received the ball on the back post from Lauren Schenk and Natalie Douglass and her shot found the back of the net for the 2-0 lead in the 15^th minute.

North Georgia continued to put pressure on the Young Harris defense as Abarhart’s shot was knocked away by Matulia to force a corner kick in the 20^th minute. However, the Lady Saints capitalized on a corner kick in the  27^th minute as Douglass headed home the cross from Casey Smith to give North Georgia a 3-0 lead.

Young Harris (1-2) tried to get into the scoring column in the 33^rd minute as the Lady Saints fouled Allison Burnham just outside the penalty area. However, Mica Lopes’ shot on the free kick sailed high of the crossbar to keep the North Georgia advantage at 3-0.

The Lady Saints extended the lead to 4-0 after Caroline Wallace drilled a shot from about 30 yards out to the far post off an assist by Schenk in the 50^th minute.

Haley Holderfield nearly gave the Mountain Lions a goal in the 70^th and 75^th minutes with shots on goal, forcing Lady Saints goalkeeper Kristen Ross to make two diving saves.

North Georgia put the final touches on the game in the 80^th minute as Abrahart found the back of the net for her third goal of the season from an assist by Whitley Dover. Douglass added a goal off a corner kick in the 90^th minute to give the Lady Saints a 6-0 advantage.

Matulia recorded eight saves for the Mountain Lions, while Jessica English had one save in the first half and Ross finished with two in the second half.

The Mountain Lions return home 5:00 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 11 to take on Truett-McConnell, which begins a three-game home stand for Young Harris.