MORROW, Ga. – Clayton State (7-7-1, 2-3-1 PBC) dropped a 5-2 decision to North Georgia (8-6, 5-2 PBC) on Senior Night in an NCAA Division II men's soccer game on Wednesday, October 25. Despite the loss, they clinch a return to the 2017 Peach Belt Conference Tournament.
 
Both teams would be evenly matched over the first 29 minutes as neither could gain an advantage. That would change when Gabriel Garcia collected a loose ball in front of the goal mouth and was able to play it into the net on the hop for a 1-0 advantage at 29:30.
 
That score would hold into the second half but not long into the second half. Ivan Acimovic delivered the first of back-to-back goals in less than a minute, first at 51:45 and then at 52:39. That 3-0 lead would grow to four in the 69^th minute as Alex Grant took a pass north of the 18-yard line and battled his way to the corner of the box before nailing a shot to back left corner at 68:46.
 
Clayton State finally got off the deck and did so in the next 25 seconds as freshman forward Dionysius Harmon (Loganville, Ga.) stepped up. With the ball deep in the left corner, Harmon deked a defender and then powered home a shot to the right corner to cut the deficit to 4-1.
 
The Lakers would continue to slice away at that margin as the Peach Belt Conference's leading scorer, junior defender Kwaku Dwamena (Richmond, Va.) converted his 11^th of the season. Senior defender Jesse Parsons (Hertfordshire, England) served a ball from the deep center and Dwamena put it home directly in front of the net to get to within 4-2 at 84:08.
 
The Nighthawks would answer back however, doing so right away as Eren Ozer picked up a loose ball in the box and drilled it hard and low to the back of the net with 85:48 gone by. That score made it 5-2, bringing the game to what would eventually be the final margin.
 
Acimovic led UNG with a pair of scores and Grant and Garcia each had a goal and assist. Ozer rounded out the offense with his lone goal. Matt Sharman played all 90 minutes in goal and made five saves while allowing two scores. He improves to 7-5 on the year.
 
Dwamena and Harmon collected solo goals to lead Clayton State while Parsons picked up just the second assist of his career. Redshirt-senior goalkeeper Oliver Pannell (Nottingham, England) went the distance, allowing five goals and making four saves to fall to 5-7-1.
 
The Lakers close out the regular season with a trip to Flagler (4-8-1, 3-3-0 PBC) on Saturday, October 25. Game time is set for 3:30 p.m. in St. Augustine, Florida.
 
While they have clinched a berth in the 2017 Peach Belt Conference Tournament, that game will help decide what seed they secure. A win will push them to the fourth seed and a home quarterfinal game while a tie will put them ahead of idle USC Aiken and the fifth seed. No points out of that contest should result in Clayton State being the sixth seed by virtue of a head-to-head tiebreak with the Pacers.
 
NOTES
Clayton State clinched a berth in the tournament by virtue of Georgia Southwestern's narrow 1-0 loss to No. 12 Young Harris earlier tonight … it is the Lakers first trip to the tournament since the 2015 season.