MOUNT OLIVE, N.C. | Young Harris upset the two seed Belmont Abbey College 14-10 in the Semifinals of the Conference Carolinas Tournament on Thursday night. Ella Hancock buried home what would end up being the game winner with 7:54 left in the fourth quarter.

Hancock led the Mountain Lions offense, scoring four goals in the win. Abbie Gallagher had a game in goal and made 13 saves including a couple of clutch stops in the final frame.

QUOTING HEAD COACH CHRISTINE HATTON
"I am really proud of how we worked together today. The heart and hustle was there. Our defense, especially Abbie, played outstanding. You could tell we really wanted this win."

The Mountain Lions advance to the Conference Carolinas Championship game on Saturday at 1:00 pm, where they will face top-seeded Mount Olive.

NOTABLE STATS:

• Abbie Gallagher had a fantastic game in net for Young Harris. She made 13 saves and a couple of clutch stops in the final frame.
• Ally Cattoni and Belle Hardwick each scored hat-tricks and Ashlyn Fraley found the nylon twice.
• Mary Troyer had eight draw controls paired with four ground balls and two caused turnovers.
• Katelyn Miller led Belmont Abbey's offense, scoring three goals.
• Both teams showed they could score, so this game came down to possessions. Yong Harris won 17 draw controls to Belmond Abbey's 10.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:

• Belmont Abbey jumped out to an early two-goal lead. Abby McCarthy struck first for the Crusaders and then Emma Pherson converted a free position attempt three and a half minutes into the game.
• Senior Belle Hardwick put the Mountain Lions on the board, tallying her 49^th and 50^th goals of the season to tie the game at two. In the last thirty seconds of the first, Ella Hancock swung a pass to Kinsley Purser and Purser scored to put Young Harris up 3-2 going into the second frame.
• In a hard fought second quarter, the Crusaders outscored the Mountain Lions 3-2, which tied everything up at five going into halftime.
• After the break, it was more of the same, good defense mixed in with a few goals from both sides. Belmont Abbey's Katelyn Miller didn't waste any time scoring a man-up goal 15 seconds into the third. Ashlyn Fraley responded and found the back of the net to tie the game up again.
• Ally Cattoni gave Young Harris its third lead of the game with 9:07 to go in the third quarter. Cattoni's goal put the Mountain Lions up 7-6.
• Belmont Abbey closed out the rest of the third with two scores to YHC's, one which again deadlocked the score, this time at eight.
• The Crusaders came out in the last fifteen minutes and broke the stalemate. This didn't deter the Mountain Lions. Cattoni scored a free position goal and Ella Hancock found the back of the net again to put Young Harris ahead 10-9.
• Belmont Abbey's final goal of the night came with 9:09 remaining. Triniti Cassidy got free and found the back of the net to tie the game up at ten.
• Ella Hancock received a pass from Ruthie Mandell and whipped in the game winning goal at the 7:54 mark.
• The Crusaders had multiple chances towards the end of the game. Two shots hit the post and Abbie Gallagher came up with a huge late game save.
• The Mountain Lions tallied three more goals to take the 14-10 victory and advance to the conference championship on Saturday.

UP NEXT:

• The upset win puts the three seed Young Harris in Saturday's Championship game at 1:00 p.m. against top-seeded Mount Olive.

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