DAHLONEGA, Ga. – Andreas Pechmann's penalty kick midway through the second half gave Young Harris College a 3-2 Peach Belt Conference men's soccer victory over North Georgia College & State University Saturday (Sept. 15) evening at the North Georgia Soccer Field.
The Mountain Lions, who are ranked No. 18 in the latest NSCAA/Continental Tire NCAA Division II Top 25 poll, improved to 5-0-0 overall and to 1-0-0 in the Peach Belt while North Georgia fell to 2-3-0 and 0-1-0. Young Harris returns home for a 2 p.m. PBC contest Wednesday (Sept. 19) when they host the University of South Carolina Aiken at the Frances Wood Wilson Soccer Field.
With the match tied at 2, Pechmann converted a penalty kick at the 59:05 mark of the match after the Saints were called for a handball inside the box. It was Pechmann's first goal of the season.
The first half of the game saw two major momentum swings as Young Harris controlled the early going. The Mountain Lions scored their first two goals four minutes apart with the first score coming just 12 minutes into the match.
William Schonfeldt headed the ball into the net off a corner by Lewis Hilton for the first score before Hilton scored a goal of his own off an assist by Khurram Shazad. It was the first goal of the season by Schonfeldt and the third for Hilton.
"We started the game with serious quality and scored two quality goals," said YHC head coach Mark McKeever. "We allowed them into match by providing them two goals from our own errors - an own goal and a goalkeeper error. As the game got heated, we kept our composure and Pech slotted a penalty kick in the center of goal."
North Georgia got a goal back in the 29th minute as the Saints got an own goal after YHC's Ashley Walker knocked in the goal. Amin El-Shami scored an unassisted goal – the first of his career – to tie the match at 2.
