YOUNG HARRIS, Ga. – The Barton men's soccer team (7-6-5) advanced to the semifinals of the 2023 Conference Carolinas Championship with a 4-3 shootout victory in penalty kicks over Young Harris (9-3-6) Saturday afternoon in the quarterfinals at Mountain Lions Field.
The sixth-seeded Bulldogs and the third-seeded Mountain Lions officially ended the match with a 5-5 tie after 110 minutes and two overtimes. Barton will next play second-seeded Chowan (7-4-4) in the semifinals on Friday, November 10, at the Truist Soccer Complex at Bryan Park in Browns Summit, N.C., beginning at 1:30 p.m.
Barton junior forward
Gabriel Slemer Lopes (São Paulo, BRAZIL) notched the deciding penalty kick and added a goal as the Bulldogs held advantages of 2-0 and 3-1 before the Mountain Lions rallied to force overtime.
After Young Harris' Alexsi Morel (Huntington Station, N.Y.) scored on a penalty kick to give the home team a 4-3 advantage, Barton graduate student forward
Peer Brendler (Gifhorn, GERMANY) forced overtime with his second goal of the match with just under two minutes left in regulation.
Young Harris would later force the shootout when Thomas Kleinpenning (Ulft, NETHERLANDS) found the back of the net with 15 seconds left in the double overtime. Kleinpenning also scored twice while Barton graduate student midfielder
Immanuel Akpeme (Richmond, Va.) scored in the extra sessions for the Bulldogs.
The Mountain Lions held a 19-9 edge in shots taken while Barton sophomore goalkeeper
Steingrimur Gunnarsson (Grenivik, ICELAND) made six saves for the visitors. Stathis Paplomatos (Limassol, CYPRUS) played in goal for the Mountain Lions.
