EVANS, Ga. – Senior Ilija Ilic recorded another hat trick as Young Harris College shut out Clayton State University 3-0 in a Peach Belt Conference Men's Soccer Tournament semifinal match Friday (Nov. 7) morning at Blanchard Woods Park.
The top seed Mountain Lions, who are ranked No. 2 in the latest NSCAA Division II Top 25 poll and ranked No. 1 in the Southeast Region in the NCAA Division II regional rankings, improved to 16-0-1 while the Lakers, who were the tournament's fourth seed, ended their campaign at 9-8-1.
Young Harris will face No. 2 seed University of South Carolina Aiken in Sunday's (Nov. 9) 1 p.m. title match. The Pacers defeated Francis Marion University 3-1 in the other semifinal contest.
Ilic, who has tallied four hat tricks for the Mountain Lions in the past six matches, now has scored 22 times in 2014. Lewis Hilton set up Ilic's first goal off a free kick from 30 yards out that he served to Paco Craig who headed the ball to Ilic at the back post to give Young Harris, which outshot the Lakers 20-2 (11-1 on goal), a 1-0 lead at the 16:23 mark.
Ilic converted his sixth penalty kick of the year at the 33:08 mark to give the Mountain Lions a 2-0 lead. The two-time PBC Player of the Year got his final score with 41 seconds remaining when he took a through ball from André Höglund and put it in the right corner of the net.
Jordan Bradshaw stop one shot in goal for the Mountain Lions as he recorded his sixth clean sheet while Nick Punter had eight stops for Clayton State.
