AIKEN, S.C. – In their second to last regular season game, Clayton State (8-5-1, 4-4-0 PBC) battled USC Aiken (5-4-3, 2-3-1 PBC) nearly evenly for most of the game before falling by a 2-1 score in an NCAA Division II men's soccer game on Friday, October 23.

The Lakers wasted no time in finding the back of the net, and it was a familiar face doing the honors. With just under four minutes gone by, senior midfielder Avery Shepard (Kennesaw, Ga.) converted a pass from sophomore defender Nick Hague (Sheffield, England) and buried his league-leading 11th goal for a 1-0 lead.

The score would stay that way for more than 37 minutes as both defenses locked in. That would change at 41:40 when Andre Simmond found Adria Dalmau for the tying score from the left side of the net. The teams would then head to the half deadlocked at 1-1.

Simmond would continue to engineer the offense 22 minutes into the second half. At the 67:23 mark, he found Nathan Shanko for the go-ahead goal from seven yards out. That score would be all that the Pacers would need as they limited Clayton State to one shot and a pair of corner kicks over the final 22:37 to secure the 2-1 upset.

For USCA, Simmond notched a pair of assists and Shanko and Dalmau had solo goals to pace the offense. In net, Chase Boulton played all 90 minutes, recording five saves and allowing just the one goal to improve to 1-0 on the year.

Shepard's 11th goal of the year led Clayton State while Hague delivered an assist to round out the offensive production. Senior goalkeeper Viltsu Tuumi (Pori, Finland) made a pair of saves and surrendered both goals in 90 minutes of action to fall to 6-4-1.

The Lakers wrap up the regular season on Wednesday, October 28 when they take on Young Harris. Game time is set for 5 p.m. in Young Harris, Ga.