DAHLONEGA, Ga. – In a game critical to their postseason aspirations, Clayton State (4-12, 2-6 PBC) used three minutes off first half offense to derail second place North Georgia (9-9, 6-3 PBC) by a 5-2 score in an NCAA Division II men's soccer game on Wednesday, October 26.
 
It would take better than 30 minutes for the Lakers to get on the board but when they did it came in one contained burst. With 31:21 gone by junior midfielder Ryan King (County Durham, England) took advantage of a foul in the box, earning a penalty kick. He guessed right and buried into the net for his ninth goal of the year.
 
He and Clayton State were far from done. Freshman midfielder Will Summerfield (Bedford, England)
pounded a shot off of the keeper that King recovered less than a minute later. With 32:15 on the clock he drilled it home for goal No. 10 and a 2-0 lead.
 
Senior forward Bilal Nakhli (Paris, France) then took matters into his own hands with 34:28 to play as he skirted a defender and laced a ball to the far post to stretch to a 3-0 lead in a matter of just over three minutes. That three goal margin would be what the clubs would then take to the half as UNG's defense held off any other scores over the final 11-plus minutes of the half.
 
North Georgia would break up the shutout in the 58^th minute, however. With 57:44 gone by, Eddie Hurst headed in a cross from Ivan Acimovic to cut it to 3-1. In a return to instant offense, the Lakers wouldn't let that stand for long as Nakhli answered back with his second goal of the night. King set it up for his fifth point of the evening, putting it right on the foot of Nakhli just three yards out to push to a 4-1 margin at 60:15.
 
All night, the Nighthawks couldn't find a solution to Ryan King and it showed again in the 83^rd minute as he drove home his third goal of the night to make it 5-1. Freshman midfielder Shams Elakabawy (Amsterdam, Holland) picked up the assist on that score at 82:50.
 
UNG answered back just over two minutes later as Acimovic made it 5-2 off a pass from Jordan Day. That would be as close as they would get, however, as the defense then capped off the three-goal victory.
 
King was unstoppable for Clayton State as he recorded his second hat trick of the season and added an assist for good measure. He was joined by Nakhli with a pair of goals and assists by Summerfield and Elakabawy. Defensively, freshman goalkeeper Leuri Fraire (Dalton, Ga.) played all 90 minutes and made one save to improve to 4-8 on the year.
 
Acimovic registered a goal and an assist to lead the Nighthawks while Hurst netted the other score and Day had the only other assist. Michael Samnik went the distance and allowed all five goals against six saves to drop to 6-7.
 
The Lakers return home to face Flagler on Saturday, October 29 on Senior Day. Originally scheduled for 3:30 p.m., the game was moved up to 1 p.m. allow FC to reschedule games following Hurricane Matthew. Senior Day festivities for men's soccer will take place directly prior to the game with Senior Day for men's cross country taking place at half time.
 
NOTES
With Georgia Southwestern's 3-0 loss at Young Harris, Clayton State is now in a position to clinch the eighth and final spot in the 2016 Peach Belt Conference Tournament this weekend … a win over Flagler will put them in or losses by GSW loss at league leading Lander or USC Aiken vs. Montevallo … with the win, the Lakers are now 20-1-2 all-time against North Georgia … King had his only other three goal game against his former team, Barry, earlier this year on September 2 at Laker Field.