YOUNG HARRIS, Ga. – Emily Ober recorded a hat trick and Dani Pena added two goals as the Young Harris College women's soccer team blitzed Georgia Southwestern State University 9-1 in a Peach Belt Conference contest Saturday (Oct. 18) at the YHC Soccer and Lacrosse Field on Senior Day.
The Mountain Lions set a program record as a four-year institution with the nine goals, surpassing the previous record of seven set on two occasions. Young Harris also set new standards for points in a match (25) and shots (43) and tied the record for assists (seven).
Young Harris won its second consecutive match as they improved to 5-8-0 overall and to 2-6-0 in the Peach Belt while the Hurricanes remained winless in 14 contests, including eight inside the conference. Young Harris will host Lander University Wednesday (Oct. 22) in a 4:30 p.m. PBC contest.
Young Harris, which outshot Georgia Southwestern 43-7 (19-4 on goal), wasted little time as Sydney Baird took a pass from Pena and put it in the left corner of the goal to give the Mountain Lions a 1-0 lead 2:40 into the match.
Young Harris scored three times in a seven-minute stretch midway through the first half to open up a 4-0 advantage. Ober played a hand in all three as she scored the first and last goals and assisted on Pena's goal.
Georgia Southwestern got a goal back when Kristi Sheridan scored off Colleen Livings' corner at the 34:10 mark. Young Harris responded with three goals in a six-minute stretch in the opening minutes of the second half as the Mountain Lions took a 7-1 lead. Pena and Ober teamed up on the first before Olivia Goddard scored the second on a Baird corner kick and Ober followed a Baird miss to account for the third goal to complete her first career hat trick and the third in the program's history (and first since 2010).
Julia DaSilva and Elana Newman each tallied a goal for the Mountain Lions over the match's final moments.
Baird, Pena and Ober each finished the match with two assists for Young Harris, Chelsee Wright (five) and Elyse Gowen (five) combined to stop 10 shots in goal for Georgia Southwestern while Yustin Nambo and Kylie Mason (three) combined for three saves for the Mountain Lions.
Seniors Ashleigh Scarpinato and Nambo were honored prior to the start of the match.
