Senior Night Photo Gallery
MORROW, Ga. – A bevy of scoring early in the second half doomed Clayton State (7-6-1, 4-4-0 PBC) as they fell 4-1 to USC Aiken (11-3-1, 5-2-0 PBC) in an NCAA Division II men's soccer game on Saturday, October 25.
After a scoreless first half, it would be the Pacers that broke through first as Noel Mais delivered an unassisted score at 53:14 to make it 1-0. That would quickly be followed by a second goal, this one by Adria Dalmau off a pass from Andre Simmond at the 56:16 mark.
It would be 3-0 at 62:34 as Mais struck again. This time, however, CSU would have an answer as sophomore forward Bilal Nakhli (Paris, France) converted a pass from leading goal scorer and junior midfielder Avery Shepard (Kennesaw, Ga.) just 14 seconds later. Simmond would notch the final goal of the evening, however, as he knocked home a loose ball a minute later at 63:50.
From there, both team's defenses would return to form but the damage was done as USCA rounded out the three goal victory to maintain a hold on second place in the Peach Belt.
Nakhli led the Lakers with his lone goal and Shepard delivered the assist to account for the evening's offense. Senior goalkeeper Nick Punter (Suffolk, England) played all 90 minutes in net, allowing all four goals and making six saves to take the loss, dropping to 5-6-1 on the year.
Mais' two goal effort anchored the Pacers' offensive attack and Simmond added a goal and an assist. Dalmau's goal was the only other offense on the night and Brandon Jarosz held down the defense with four saves and just the one goal allowed in 90 minutes of action. He improves to 4-2 on the season.
Clayton State rounds out Peach Belt regular season action on Wednesday, October 29 when they host No. 5 Young Harris (12-0-1, 7-0-0 PBC). The Mountain Lions have clinched a share of the PBC regular season title. Game time is set for 5 p.m. at Laker Field.
