MORROW, Ga. – Clayton State (4-4, 0-1 PBC) equaled their high for goals in a game so far this season and junior midfielder Tom Mitchinson (Middlesbrough, England) passed his way into a tie for the national lead in assists as the Lakers routed Auburn-Montgomery (0-8, 0-1 GSC) by a 5-1 score in an NCAA Division II men's soccer game on Wednesday, September 27.
 
It took a while for the offense to get into gear, nearly 20 minutes in fact, but when they did there was no stopping them. Mitchinson got things started as he found junior defender Kwaku Dwamena (Richmond, Va.) at 19:42 to make it 1-0.
 
Just 46 seconds later he would do it again, finding redshirt-senior forward Sekou Thornell (Atlanta, Ga.) in front of the net. The veteran put a foot on it and buried it low and hard into the center of the goal for a two goal advantage at 20:28.
 
With 29:10 gone by, Dwamena got into the act as he launched a ball from the right of the net to the left post. Sophomore forward Dean Foster (Johannesburg, South Africa) was on the receiving end and promptly deposited in the back right side to make it 3-0. AUM's defense would stabilize over the final 15-plus minutes of the half as the teams took that three goal margin into the break.
 
Foster and the Lakers would be right back at it at the start of the second half, however, no assist would be needed. That would be because of a foul in the box that resulted in a penalty kick for Foster.
 
Even with the keeper guessing correctly he still drove it home on the right side for his second score of the night and sixth overall. That goal also tied him for the Peach Belt Conference lead with FMU's Levin Sandmann – which will be the matchup in Clayton State's next outing.
 
Freshman midfielder Juuso Ollila (Helsinki, Finland) would get in on the action in the 64^th minute as Mitchinson delivered his program record-tying third assist of the night. For Ollila it was his first career score while Mitchinson became the first Laker to deliver a three assist game twice in his career. The first came earlier this season in a 5-1 victory over Southern Wesleyan (9/13).
 
The Warhawks would come away with one saving grace as they found the back of the net in the 73^rd minute to prevent the shutout. Vilhjalmu Runarsson connected with Simon Van Rheeden to make it 5-1 at the 72:40 mark. That would go on to be the final margin as Clayton State turned away five more shots down the stretch to seal the victory.
 
The goal by Van Rheeden and assist by Runarsson accounted for the only offense for AUM. The latter added a team-high six shot, four on goal. Stephen Ingram played all 90 minutes and made nine saves while allowing five goals. He drops to 0-8 on the season.
 
Mitchinson's three assists led the way for Clayton State while Foster netted a pair of goals. They were joined by Thornell, Dwamena and Ollila with one score apiece. Sophomore goalkeeper Leuri Fraire (Dalton, Ga.) went the distance in net, making seven saves and allowing just the one goal to improve to 2-0 on the year.
 
The Lakers hit the road as they return to PBC action on Saturday, September 30. They'll head to Florence, South Carolina to take on Francis Marion at approximately 5:30 p.m. as the second game of a doubleheader.
 
NOTES
The five goals in a game is the most since an 8-0 victory over Pfeiffer on September 13, 2013 … since that game, Clayton State has had six games of five goals ... Mitchinson is tied with Mark Bako of Salem International and Kieran Bywater of Charleston (W. Va.) for the NCAA Division II lead in assists with seven.