MORROW, Ga. – The Clayton State women's soccer Lakers were at times their worst enemy late in their contest on Wednesday against Young Harris College.  In the end, the Lakers held off the visiting Mountain Lions 3-2 in the opening Peach Belt Conference match for both teams.

The win, the fourth in a row for the defending PBC champs, improves the Lakers to 5-1 on the young season while Young Harris falls to 1-3.  The Lakers outshot their visitors 16-6, but Young Harris made the most of their limited opportunities.

"Tonight was about getting our first conference win of the season," said Lakers head coach Gareth O'Sullivan.  "At times we didn't help ourselves, but the end result was what matters."

Junior Maria Marti Bartis, the Peach Belt's leading scorer, came off the bench to score the first goal of the contest for Clayton State and her PBC-leading seventh goal of the season.  She scored on a pass at the 40:00 mark of the first half from Jencilia Villaverde. 

However, Young Harris came right back with a score of their own on a Sydney Baird goal at the 42:49 mark of the half. While Clayton State held an 8-2 advantage in first half shots, the Mountain Lions' second shot of the half knotted the match going into halftime.      

Junior Lucy Cunningham, the PBC's second-leading goal scorer, regained the lead for Clayton State with her sixth goal of the season.  She took a feed pass from Saidhbh Collins for a 2-1 Laker lead at the 47:49 mark.  Almost six minutes later, Collins drilled a shot from 25 yards from the goal to give the Lakers a 3-1 advantage.

The Mountain Lions narrowed the gap at 68:50 on an Amber Matthews goal.  Young Harris made it interesting down the stretch, but the Lakers mustered up enough defense to preserve the win.

Clayton State returns to action Sunday afternoon with another Peach Belt Conference home match-up.  They will host the Saints from Flagler College with a scheduled 2:00 p.m. start at Laker Field.