GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Alexis Scarpinato's second goal of the match with 18:30 left in the second half broke a tie and lifted Young Harris College to a 3-2 win over Tusculum University in the women's soccer season opener for both teams Thursday at Pioneer Field.
Scarpinato took a through pass from Aimee Durn and split three defenders before connected to the far side and give the Mountain Lions (1-0-0) the victory over the Pioneers (0-1-0). Tusculum had trailed 2-0 in the 37th minute but tied the match on a pair of goals by Kenzie Ellenburg, the latter in the 61st minute to level the score at 2-2.
Jhena Ellerbe also scored for Young Harris after Scarpinato had given the Mountain Lions a 1-0 lead in the 21st minute. Ellenburg's goals came in the 39th and 61st minutes, but Tusculum could muster just six shots in the match compared to 17 by Young Harris.
The Mountain Lions had the first shot attempt in the fifth minute, but Elicia Mulvaney shot wide after a turnover in the Pioneer defensive end. Tusculum's first shot came off the foot of Yvette Raaijen on a free kick in the 13th minute, but Young Harris keeper McKenna Peaster knocked it away with a lunge.
Young Harris went up 1-0 at 20:33 as Durn took a give and go from Scarpinato and broke in on Tusculum keeper Grayson Patterson. The shot from Durn was blocked by Patterson, but Scarpinato had the full net on the rebound and gave Young Harris the lead.
Scarpinato nearly made it 2-0 about 4 1/2 minutes later, but her shot was punched over the crossbar by Patterson. Less than a minute after that, Patterson was able to corral a header from Jasmin Keller off a service from outside the box.
Young Harris stretched its lead to 2-0 at 36:16 as a corner kick from Hannah Behner found Ellerbe unmarked at the near post, and she headed home the service. Ellenburg responded a tick under two minutes later as she took a pass from Elise Gallo and beat Peaster to the far post for the Pioneers' first goal of the season.
Patterson made two more saves in the final minutes of the half, stopping Keller from 25 yards with just under five minutes to go and tipping a shot from Brooke Morrison over the frame with three minutes remaining. Patterson finished with five saves in the first half as the Mountain Lions outshot the Pioneers 10-3 in the opening 45 minutes.
Young Harris outshot Tusculum 5-1 in the first seven minutes of the second half, but elected to play with just 10 while an injured player received treatment following a collision. While the player awaited the beckon to return to the field, the Pioneers scored the tying goal as Kaitlyn Watson delivered a long pass to the far right side to Ellenburg, whose shot from distance got over Peaster and tied the match at 2-2 with 29:41 left.
Tusculum took what would be its final shot of the match with 23:08 left on a free kick from Raaijen that was grabbed directly by Peaster. Young Harris would take the lead with 18:30 to go as Durn collected the ball and passed through to Scarpinato, who maneuvered through three defenders before scoring to the far post for a 3-2 Mountain Lions lead.
The final shot attempt of the match came from distance by Durn with 5:41 left, and Young Harris was able to bleed off the remaining time by earning several throw-ins and maintaining possession.
Patterson, making her first career start for the Pioneers, finished with eight saves in the match while Peaster had two saves for the Mountain Lions. Young Harris was called for 14 fouls to nine by Tusculum, and had an 8-2 advantage in corner kicks.
Tusculum will be back home to face King in a non-conference match on Tuesday at 5 p.m. at Pioneer Field.
