Tigerville, SC – The North Greenville Trailblazers picked up their second consecutive victory Saturday afternoon at Pepsi Stadium, shutting out Young Harris College 2-0 and handing the Mountain Lions their first conference loss of the season.
North Greenville improved to 2-5-1 overall and 2-2-1 in Conference Carolinas play with the victory, while Young Harris fell to 7-3 overall and 6-1 in the conference.
Both teams generated opportunities during a scoreless opening half. North Greenville put three of its five attempts on goal, with Natalie Tardie forcing saves in the 11th and 13th minutes before Christabel Kirkham put another attempt on target in the 16th. Young Harris answered with five shots of their own, but Cadie Pendergrass made two saves to keep the match scoreless heading into halftime.
The Mountain Lions increased the pressure after the break, recording seven second-half shots and putting five on goal.
North Greenville finally broke through in the 76th minute. Caisey Williamson, who entered the match as a substitute, finished a chance created by Parker Christmas and Isabella Gyurich at 75:24 for her first goal of the season, putting the Trailblazers ahead 1-0.
NGU doubled the lead less than eight minutes later. Kirkham found the back of the net at 83:22 for her second goal of the season, giving North Greenville a 2-0 lead with just over six minutes remaining.
The Trailblazers protected the advantage the rest of the way to secure their second consecutive shutout victory.
Pendergrass played all 90 minutes in goal and recorded six saves. After Young Harris put five shots on goal during the second half, Pendergrass stopped all five to preserve the victory.
Kirkham led the North Greenville attack with three shots, putting all three on goal and scoring once. Tardie recorded a team-high four shots with two on target, while Williamson scored on one of her two attempts. Ana Maria Pinzon also recorded two shots.
North Greenville will return to action on Wednesday, September 30th against the Tornado of King University at Pepsi Stadium.
