COLUMBUS, Ga. – Columbus State University edged Young Harris College 3-2 in a Peach Belt Conference women's soccer match Saturday (Oct. 5) afternoon at the Walden Soccer Complex.

The 17th-ranked Cougars improved to 7-3-0 overall and to 4-0-0 in the Peach Belt, while the Mountain Lions slipped to 3-6-0 and 0-4-0. Three – two by nationally ranked teams - of the four PBC losses for Young Harris have been by a single goal. Young Harris returns to action Wednesday (Oct. 9) when they host Georgia College in a PBC contest.

The teams battled to a scoreless draw in the first half.

"We played extremely hard against a very good team," said head coach Kathy Brown. "We had a handful of very dangerous counter attacks that came just short of a goal. Amber Matthews and Taylor Erickson were fantastic in the back. They were unbelievable in handling the pressure from one of the top teams in the conference."

Columbus State broke the scoreless tie with three goals over a span of six minutes in the opening minutes of the second half before the Mountain Lions fought back. Fifteen seconds after the Cougars had taken a 3-0 lead, Candace Edwards led the comeback as she scored her fifth goal of the season from 25 yards out after beating the CSU goalkeeper to the left. Just over five minutes later, Young Harris got within a goal when Edwards put the ball in the box for teammate Whitney Thomas who beat the charging CSU goalkeeper for her fifth strike of 2013.

"Candace and Whitney were brilliant on the attack," added Brown.  "They are two of the most dangerous strikers in the Peach Belt Conference."

Taylor Erickson had eight saves in goal for the Mountain Lions while Meosha Hatcher and Maylyn Parsons each had one for the Cougars.