MORROW, Ga. – Knotted at 1-1 midway through the second half, a pair of rapid fire goals by graduate forward Iain Smith (Suwanee, Ga.) gave Clayton State (1-0, 0-0 PBC) a season-opening 3-1 victory over Erskine (0-1, 0-0 CC) in an NCAA Division II men's soccer game on Thursday, September 3. The game was the second of the 2015 Loch Shop Shootout.
 
The goals by Smith came just eight seconds apart from each other, tying the 28-year old Division II record of Florida International's George Moyssidis (10/20/79) and Steve Lose of Florida Southern (9/12/87).
 
The Flying Fleet got on the board first, and right away, Ross Henderson found Jake Lochstampfor for the go-ahead score just 1:29 into the game. It would take 20 minutes, but the Lakers would answer back in a very physical game.
 
With 21:30 gone by, senior midfielder Avery Shepard (Kennesaw, Ga.) took a pass from senior defender Nikola Gazibara (Belgrade, Serbia) and buried it into the back of the net for the equalizer. The score would stay that way until midway through the second half when Smith took matters into his own hands.
 
Sophomore defender Aleksi Tuominen (Helsinki, Finland) served in a corner kick from the far side at 67:47 and Smith proceeded to head it into the back left of the goal to make it 2-1. Seconds later, junior forward Sekou Thornell (Atlanta, Ga.) intercepted a pass and found Smith again, this time for an open net score at 67:55. From there, the Lakers defense was on lock down, sealing the 3-1 season-opening victory.
 
Lochstampfor and Henderson accounted for the only points for the Flying Fleet with their goal and assist, respectively. CJ Cluck went the distance in goal, making nine saves and allowing all three goals, taking the loss and dropping to 0-1.
 
Smith led the charge for Clayton State with his two goals in his program debut. Shepard had the other score while Tuominen, Gazibara and Thornell each had solo assists. Also making his Laker debut was junior goalkeeper Oliver Pannell (Nottingham, England), who played the past two seasons at Mars Hill. He played all 90 minutes, allowed just the one early goal and made three saves to move to 1-0 on the season.
 
Clayton State returns to action on Saturday, September 5 when they take on Anderson (1-0, 0-0 SAC). Game time is set for 7 p.m. at Laker Field as part of a Loch Shop Shootout doubleheader.
 
NOTES
The opening day doubleheader was delayed an hour and 15 minutes due to thunder and lightning in the Morrow, Ga. area … in the early game, Anderson pulled the upset on a strong USC Aiken squad, earning a 2-0 victory … the Pacers will face Erskine in the early game on Saturday, slated for a 5 p.m. kick.