Women's soccer announces slate for 2022 season
By: Michael MacEachern
Assistant Director of Athletics for Sports Communications
Young Harris College women's soccer coach Avram Allen released the 2022 schedule for the Mountain Lions.
"There is no doubt about it - we have a challenging schedule and open the season with some heavy hitters, " said Allen. "The positive is we will be battle tested leading into one of the toughest conferences in the country - the Peach Belt Conference. In saying that, I believe my players are up for the challenge. We return a lot of key players that have had a major impact on this program, and we have new talent that want to leave their mark here at Young Harris. The players are working hard and there is a lot of focus and excitement around the season. Now we just have to keep that same energy, focus, and work rate when it counts."
INSIDE THE SCHEDULE:
Young Harris has put together a 15-match slate for the upcoming campaign, including eight at the YHC Soccer and Lacrosse Field.
The Mountain Lions will have two matches against teams ranked in the United Soccer Coaches Division II Top 25 preseason poll this season. YHC will face No. 11-ranked Flagler College Oct. 22 in St. Augustine, Florida, and will host No. 15 Columbus State University Oct. 5.
Young Harris will open the season with four non-conference matches. The Mountain Lions will open the campaign with two matches at the YHC Soccer and Lacrosse Field. YHC will host Wingate University at 5 p.m. Aug. 25 before facing Tusculum University Aug. 28. It will be the first-ever meeting with the Bulldogs and the Mountain Lions beat the Pioneers 3-2 to open the 2021 season in Greeneville, Tennessee.
Young Harris will hit the road for their next two matches against Carson-Newman University Aug. 31 and the University of Montevallo Sept. 5. YHC has won three matches each against the Eagles and the Falcons in the all-time series.
The Mountain Lions, who were picked to finish seventh in the Peach Belt Conference in 2022, will open their 10-match league schedule Sept. 10 when they host Georgia College in the Enchanted Valley.
Young Harris will hit be on the road for three of the next four matches. The Mountain Lions will face their Blood Mountain rivals University of North Georgia Sept. 14 in Dahlonega, Georgia, before facing Albany State University at home Sept. 17. YHC will follow with back-to-back games at the University of South Carolina-Aiken (Sept. 24) and at Georgia Southwestern State University (Sept. 28).
The Mountain Lions start the month of October off with four of their first five games at home. YHC will host defending Peach Belt champion Columbus State at home Oct. 5 before facing the newest member in the Peach Belt - University of South Carolina Beaufort - at the YHC Soccer and Lacrosse Field Oct. 8.
YHC will travel to Greenwood, South Carolina, to face Lander University Oct. 12, before returning home for its two final home matches. The Mountain Lions will face Clayton State University Oct. 15 and then step out of conference to play host to Lincoln Memorial University Oct. 19. Young Harris will conclude the regular season Oct. 22 with a match against three-time defending PBC Tournament champion Flagler in St. Augustine, Florida.
The top eight teams will qualify for the Peach Belt Tournament in 2021. The quarterfinals (Oct. 28) and semifinals (Oct. 30) matches will be played at the top two seeds. The two semifinal winners will meet for the tournament championship at the highest-remaining seed Nov. 5.