ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – Needing a win to secure home field advantage for the quarterfinal round of the 2017 Peach Belt Conference Tournament, Clayton State (7-8-1, 2-4-1 PBC) succumbed to a late goal as Flagler (5-8-1, 4-3-0 CC) escaped with a narrow victory in an NCAA Division II men's soccer game on Saturday, October 28.
 
The Saints would strike first as Christian Wnuk charged into the box in the 24^th minute. He would then drill a shot to the back of the net for a 1-0 advantage at 23:07. From there the teams would combine for just five shots the rest of the way as they headed to the break with that one goal margin.
 
It would remain that way until the deep into the second half when the Lakers finally broke through. Freshman midfielder Juuso Ollila (Helsinki, Finland) drove into the offensive end and found redshirt-senior forward Sekou Thornell (Atlanta, Ga.) for the equalizer at the 81:10 mark.
 
Clayton State would have their best opportunity to pull ahead in regulation with 2:24 to play when junior defender Kwaku Dwamena (Richmond, Va.) broke through in the box with 87:06 gone by. He would fire on goal but would see the Saints keeper just close the gap enough to deflect the ball away.
 
That save would set the stage for Flagler at the other end of the field as they came away with a corner kick in the 89^th minute. Off of the service from Henrique Salomao, Quam Salami put a head on it directly in front of the goal, putting it to the back right corner to make it 2-1 at the 88:45 mark. The Lakers would not be able to muster a shot in the final minute-plus as they fell by the narrow one goal margin.
 
Wnuk and Salami led the Saints with a goal apiece while Salomao had the only assist. Jesper Olsson went the distance in goal, allowing just the one score and making three saves to move to 1-1 on the year.
 
For Clayton State, Thornell provided the lone goal while Ollila notched an assist to account for the offense. Redshirt-senior goalkeeper Oliver Pannell (Nottingham, England) played all 90 minutes and allowed two scores with one save. He falls to 5-8-1 on the season.
 
The Lakers have earned the No. 5 seed in the 2017 Peach Belt Conference Tournament and will travel right back to Flagler on Tuesday, October 31 in Quarterfinal action. Game time is yet to be determined.
 
NOTES
With his 11 goals and 26 points, Kwaku Dwamena finishes the 2017 regular season leading the Peach Belt Conference in both categories.