FLORENCE, S.C. – In their first trip to Florence in more than a decade, freshman midfielder Ann-Cathrin Zabel (Schwarme, Germany) made it memorable with a performance for the ages as Clayton State (3-5, 1-3 PBC) throttled Francis Marion (3-4, 0-3 PBC) 6-0 in an NCAA Division II women's soccer game on Saturday, September 30.
 
The Lakers would benefit from early pressure in the offensive end as they earned consecutive corner kicks, both by senior forward Iciar Duran (Madrid, Spain). The second one of those would result in a ball that the keeper attempted to handle and played into the back of the net for an own goal at 9:02.
 
It would take another 17 minutes before Clayton State would manage another shot but they made it count when they did. Zabel found a sprinting sophomore defender Manoly Baquerizo (Guayaquil, Ecuador) who then drilled home her third goal of the year for a 2-0 advantage at the 26:33 mark.
 
That would open the floodgates and it would be those same two players who would continue to force them open. Less than three minutes later it would be Baquerizo connecting with Zabel, who drove home a shot from 15 yards out for her fourth goal of the season.
 
The Lakers would not be looking to stop there as sophomore midfielder Andrea Rodriguez (Monterrey, Mexico) took a pass from freshman midfielder Jana Lennartz (Nideggen, Germany) and banged it off the post from seven yards out for a 4-0 lead at 40:01. That would be the margin the teams would take to the half five minutes later.
 
It would take more than 14 minutes at the start of the second half but Clayton State and Zabel would strike again. Rodriguez this time pushed the ball up the middle of the field before dishing out to the left wing. Zabel collected it there and angled in before ripping off a shot from 12 yards out that found the back of the net at 59:07.
 
Leading 5-0, the Lakers would not take their foot off the pedal. Graduate midfielder Hikari Taguchi (Saitama, Japan) banged one off the keeper in the 81^st minute that Zabel recovered in front of the net and pounded home for her third goal of the game, this at 80:26. It gave her her second three goal game of the season, the other coming at Truett-McConnell on September 8, and brought the game to what would be the final margin less than 10 minutes later.
 
Sarah Moll posted three of the Patriots seven shots and was one of five individuals to put one on net. Micahla Kitchen started and played 32:44 in net, allowing three goals against one save to fall to 0-2 while Janine Gordon say the field for the final 57:16. In that time she gave up three goals while making four saves.
 
Zabel spearheaded the Lakers offensive onslaught with three goals and an assist for seven points while Rodriguez and Baquerizo each had a goal and assist. They were joined by Taguchi and Lennartz with an assist apiece.
 
The seven point effort by Zabel was the most by a Laker in more than seven years when Cherie Sayon had nine points with four goals and an assist against Brevard on September 11, 2010.
 
After fighting through four straight one goal margins, redshirt-senior goalkeeper Jessica Charman (Harefield, England) enjoyed six goals of support and responded with another outstanding effort. She made four saves while playing 70:06 and combined with freshman goalkeeper Maria Notario (Medina del Camp, Valladolid, Spain) for the shutout. The latter saw the first action of her career and played a scoreless 19:54. Charman improves to 3-5 on the year.
 
The Lakers will continue PBC action when they face last year's national semifinalist in No. 15 Columbus State (5-1, 2-1 PBC) on Wednesday, October 4. Game time is set for approximately 7:30 p.m. as part of a doubleheader at Laker Field.
 
NOTES
The six goal outburst was the most by Clayton State since a 7-2 victory over Georgia Southwestern on October 21, 2015.