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Young Harris holds on to best Soccer Hawks, 3-2
By Matt Green
ROME -- Trevor Monroe scored the game winner in the 85th minute as visiting Young Harris College outlasted Shorter 3-2 in non-league soccer action on Wednesday night at Ben Brady Field.
The loss is the first of the season for the Hawks (3-1), who rallied from one goal deficits twice in the second half but could not manage to take a lead. Young Harris, which improves to 2-0 all-time against Shorter, stays unbeaten at 2-0 after holding on in a physical match that produced 34 fouls and five yellow cards.
Shorter played well against the Mountain Lions, but misfortune in the first half gave way to an opportunistic Young Harris side in the second half that resulted in a heartbreaking defeat.
Shorter freshmen Robert Ochieng and Irvin Espinal each put shots off the crossbar in the opening 20 minutes, but it was Young Harris striker Illijia Illic that found the back of the net seven minutes until halftime to give the Mountain Lions a 1-0 lead at the break.
A fast-paced second half witnessed two ties and two lead changes as the squads went back and forth on a chilly evening in front of a sizable and vocal crowd.
Espinal ignited proceedings in the second stanza when he leveled terms with a 35-yard bullet into the upper right hand corner of the cage -- his fourth goal of the season. Young Harris regained a 2-1 edge when Niall McCabe came free down the left side of the box and slid an attempt past Shorter keeper Ryan Edwards in the 63rd minute.
Shorter, which ended the match with a 14-12 advantage in shots, equalized again in the 81st minute after Ochieng and Trevor Greenwald linked up to put a ball at the feet of Garry Perks, who spun and slotted a shot just past Young Harris goalie Wezley Barnard to the near post for a 2-2 deadlock.
The Hawks' momentum was short-lived, however, as Monroe ended up on the end of a service from Khurram Shazad and headed home the winner from just inside the six-yard box with just four minutes to spare.
Espinal paced the Hawks with five shots, two of which were on target. Edwards finished with three saves for Shorter and Ochieng and Perks each managed three shots.
The Hawks return to action on Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 17 and 18 when they travel to Thomasville, Ga., for the Thomas University Invitational. Shorter will take on St. Thomas (Fla.) on Saturday before closing out the invitational on Sunday against host Thomas.
