YOUNG HARRIS, Ga. – In a game that could help determine home field for a Peach Belt Conference Quarterfinal, Clayton State (7-5-1, 4-4-1 PBC) battled back from a second half two goal deficit but could not complete the comeback as Young Harris (6-2-3, 5-2-1 PBC) pulled out a 3-2 victory in an NCAA Division II women's soccer game on Tuesday, October 18.
 
Following 16 minutes of scoreless play, it would be the Mountain Lions that would get on the board first as Lucero Robayo corralled the rebound from Marilia Lages' shot and buried into the back of the net at 16:49. That 1-0 margin wouldn't stay that way for long as YHC notched goal number two on a hectic play.
 
In the 21^st minute, Sydney Baird would loft a corner to the far side of the goal mouth where Baylee Roche collected it and crossed to Laisy Scardazzi on the far post where she drove it home at 20:40. From there the teams would combine to register just two shots, both by Lakers' graduate midfielder Maria Marti Bartis (Girona, Spain), over the final 24-plus minutes to head to the half with a 2-0 margin.
 
The Lakers would finally breakthrough in the 63^rd minute when junior forward Erika Gurnsey (Wichita, Kansas) fed Marti Bartis 18 yards out on the right side. From there she banged home her eight goal of the season, putting it into the upper left hand corner to close to within 2-1.
 
That would open the floodgates as senior forward Denisha Paskell (McDonough, Ga.) capitalized on a pass from junior forward Iciar Duran (Madrid, Spain). Delivered to her at the top of the box, she put it home in the left side of the net for her second goal of the year, to knot things up at 2-2 with 67:39 gone by.
 
As it turned out, YHC would also reignite their offense as Scardazzi struck again, this time off of a free kick from 20 yards out. From there she would put it into the right corner of the goal to return the lead to the Mountain Lions, 3-2, at the 76:47 mark.
 
Paskell and Marti Bartis delivered the scores to lead Clayton State while Duran and Gurnsey each picked up an assist. In goal, redshirt-junior goalkeeper Jessica Charman (Harefield, England) played all 90 minutes and made three saves against three goals allowed to fall to 7-4-1.
 
Scardazzi notched a pair of goals to anchor Young Harris's offense while Robayo had the only other score. Lages, Barid and Roche each collected an assist to round out the offense. Defensively, Nicole Medeiros went the distance, making one save while giving up two goals. She improves to 6-2-3 on the year.
 
The Lakers return home to take on USC Aiken (4-11, 2-7 PBC) on Saturday, October 22. Game time is set for 3:30 p.m. following the men's game on Alumni Weekend.