FLORENCE, S.C. – A pair of late goals were not enough as Clayton State (6-5-1, 3-3-0 PBC) saw their recent three-game winning streak come to a halt with a 3-2 decision by Francis Marion (7-3-2, 2-2-2 PBC) in an NCAA Division II men's soccer game on Saturday, October 18.
The Patriots jumped out to the early lead as Ryan Kolenda sent a pass from the right side, straight to the foot of Julius Broman who buried it from 14 yards out for a 1-0 lead at 12:29. It would be a while but they would finally break through the Lakers defense again in the first half as Benjamin Kwast benefited from a timely pass by Sven Ricke to make it a 2-0 score by the 41:49 mark.
After taking that margin to the break, FMU notched a third score, this one by Ricke off the second of two rebounds, with 53:33 gone by. Faced with a daunting 3-0 deficit, Clayton State did not back away, but instead went full force ahead.
With 71:26 on the clock, sophomore midfielder Casey Shultis' (McDonough, Ga.) intended cross went through the keeper's hands and into the back of the net to make it 3-1. Just over four minutes later he would, more intentionally, deliver his second goal of the game as he took it himself at 75:44 to cut it to 3-2. That, however, would be the second to last shot the Lakers would see as Francis Marion held on for the narrow one goal victory.
Shultis led the way with his two scores to pace the Clayton State offense while senior goalkeeper Nick Punter (Suffolk, England) was the hard luck loser in goal, dropping to 4-5-1 after making eight saves along with the three goals allowed.
Ricke produced a goal and an assist for the Patriots and Broman and Kwast each had solo scores to account for their three goals. Kolenda chipped in with an assist and Mike Warn played all 90 minutes in goal, allowing a pair of scores and making six saves to improve to 7-3-2).
The Lakers head to Americus, Ga. to take on Georgia Southwestern when they next take the field on Wednesday, October 22. Start time is slated for 3:30 p.m. as part of a Peach Belt double header with the women's team.
