MORROW, Ga. – On August 18, 1997, Clayton State Athletics completed a significant transition from the NAIA to NCAA Division II. The 2017-18 season marked the 20^th anniversary of that accomplishment. Over a seven week span, the Sports Information Office is releasing the top 20 moments in the NCAA era, one on each Monday, Wednesday and Friday with select exceptions.
  The countdown continues with the No. 12 moment, Men's Soccer Wins Five PBC Championships in Three Seasons From 2005-07.
 
After notching only two Peach Belt Conference titles (2000 Tournament, 2001 Regular Season) in their first eight years of NCAA membership, the Lakers doubled that in a three year span. They swept the 2005 and 2007 regular season and tournament championships with a 2006 regular season title sandwiched in the middle. They also made the NCAA Division II Tournament in 2005 and 2007.
 
Below are the original releases from the 2005 regular season clinching match (October 29, 2005) and tournament title (November 6, 2005), 2006 regular season (October 18, 2006), 2007 regular season (October 27, 2007) and tournament championship from that same year (November 4, 2007).
  MORROW, Ga. - Two 1-0 victories at Laker Field put an exclamation point on "Showdown Saturday" and made for an historic day in Clayton State Soccer.
 
Both the men's and women's and soccer teams captured the 2005 Peach Belt Conference Championship crowns with wins over conference opponent USC Upstate, the first time in Peach Belt history that the same school has won both the men's and women's soccer championships in the same year.
 
The Laker women's victory gave Clayton State a share of the PBC title with Columbus State, who also won on Saturday, while the men's victory over USC Upstate gave the Lakers the title outright over the Spartans. The Peach Belt title for the women's team is the first in program history, and the championship for the men is the second with the first title coming in 2001.
 
With the win, Clayton State's men's squad will host the 2005 Peach Belt Conference semifinals and finals next weekend, as the conference's top seed. Clayton State improves to 11-3-4 on the year and 5-0-1 in the league. The Lakers will receive a first round bye in the tournament, returning to the field on Saturday for the semifinals. USC Upstate drops to 11-2-2 overall and 3-1-2 in the league with the loss. The Spartans will return to action on Wednesday, hosting a match in the first round of the PBC Tournament.
 
Clayton State's women's team improves to 12-2-2 and 6-1-1 on the year and will return to action on Tuesday, hosting a first round Peach Belt match, as the second seed from the conference. Columbus State will enter the tourney as the top seed, since the Cougars won the regular match between the two schools. Upstate falls to 4-12-1 overall and 2-6 in the league. The Spartans will return to action on Tuesday, traveling for a first round Peach Belt Tournament match.
 
After a scoreless first half in the women's match, Clayton State broke the deadlock early in the second period with a goal by Nkese Udoh, her 15th of the year in the 50th minute. The score came off a pass from Olaitan Yusuf that crossed through the box, setting up Udoh for a shot in the lower right of the net.
 
Clayton State held on for the remainder of the match to pull out the victory. The Lakers controlled much of the match, outshooting Upstate 14-3 and led 3-0 in corner kicks. Clayton State keeper Judith Chime recorded her ninth shutout of the season, with three saves for the Lakers, while Upstate's Diana Wabnitz had five saves.
 
In the men's match, 13th-ranked Clayton State scored in the 33rd minute and held off a number of scoring threats by fifth-ranked USC Upstate to pull out the victory. 
 
Clayton State's Kevin Crooks scored the game winner, taking a pass from Scott LerClerc. Crooks beat Spartan keeper Ryan Cooper with a shot in the bottom right of the net from 13 yards out.
 
The match was not without controversy in the final 30 seconds, as Upstate's Liam Slack appeared to score the game-tying goal with a shot in the lower left of the net from inside the Clayton State box, but he was whistled for offsides, securing the victory for Clayton State.
 
USC Upstate out-shot Clayton State 11-3 in the match only to be denied by Clayton State keeper Heath Padgett and the Laker defense on several occasions. The Spartans' Troy Simon had the best chance to score in the first half only to have Padgett come up with a diving save, and in the second half, Chris Baretta had a shot from point blank range after some confusion in the Laker box, but once again, Padgett came up with a big stop.
 
Padgett finished with five saves for the Lakers and recorded his fifth solo shutout, while Ryan Cooper had one save for the Spartans. Upstate finished with six corner kicks compared to only one for the Lakers.
  MORROW, Ga. - The ninth-ranked Clayton State University men's soccer team completed a Peach Belt Conference Championship sweep, defeating 18th-ranked USC Upstate 2-1 in the Peach Belt Conference Tournament Championship Sunday in Morrow, Ga. 
 
The championship is the second time in school history the Lakers have captured the PBC Tournament with the Lakers last winning the tournament title in 2000. The title also comes on the heels of the Lakers winning the 2005 Peach Belt Conference Championship last week. USC Upstate falls for the second straight year in the Championship final after falling 3-1 to UNC Pembroke last year. 
 
With the win, the Lakers, the top seed in the tournament, improve to 13-3-4 on the year, while Upstate drops to 13-3-2 on the year. The two teams will now await the decision on the three teams to be chosen for the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional. The NCAA Region committee will make its decision early next week on the three participants. Clayton State was ranked 1st in the last NCAA poll and Upstate was tied for fourth with Queens before the conference tournaments. UNC Pembroke and Lander were second and third in the rankings. 
 
In Sunday's match, Clayton State took a 1-0 lead late in the first half on a give-and-go by Juan Trujillo and Victor Duncan that resulted in a goal. Trujillo streaked through the midfield, beating the Upstate defense before passing off to Duncan for shot from eight yards out. 
 
In the second half, the Lakers added some insurance they would later need as Trujillo again beat the defense, stopped and fired a shot from 15 yards out that ricocheted off Upstate keeper's Ryan Cooper's hands and into the upper right of the net. 
 
Upstate cut the deficit to 2-1 in the 88^th minute with Troy Simon taking a pass from Kim Krohn and firing a shot from 15 yards out past the outstretched arms of Clayton State keeper Heath Padgett. 
 
The Spartans out-shot the Lakers 13-6 in the match but was denied several times by Clayton State keeper Heath Padgett, who came up with several sparkling saves. Padgett finished with eight stops, while Cooper had two saves. 
 
Clayton State midfielder Jarrid Nicholson, who scored the game winner in the Saturday's semifinal and played every minute of the tournament, was named the 2005 Tournament Most Valuable Player. Along with Nicholson, other Clayton State All-Tournament selections were: Heath Padgett, Tonny Madegwa and Daniel English. Upstate had three all-tournament players in Kim Krohn, Liam Slack and David Stovall.
 
In addition, USC Aiken's Dennison Scipio, Lander's Zach Ducey and UNC Pembroke's Mustpha M'Hassani were named to the team. North Georgia's Ciro Pelliccia and Rene Alvarez were also named to the team along with Francis Marion's Shondell Busby and Andy Conrad.
  MORROW, Ga. - Lightning struck twice for the Clayton State Laker men's soccer team and forward Kevin Crooks.
 
Last week, the senior scored the game-winner in overtime as Clayton State knocked off Georgia Southwestern. Fast forward one week later on Wednesday night and the scenario was the same – Crooks scored the game-winning goal in the 105^th minute of the second overtime, giving Clayton State a thrilling 2-1 victory over 25^th-ranked USC-Aiken at Laker Field.
 
The victory, coupled with USC-Upstate's shocking 1-0 double-overtime defeat against North Georgia, assured Clayton State (9-7, 5-1) of at least a tie for the Peach Belt Conference regular season championship.
 
It was an exclamation point for Crooks on Senior Night as he and fellow Laker seniors Andre Rall, Heath Padgett, Todd Denson, Steve Weston and Junior Smith played their final regular season games at Laker Field.
 
After a 1-1 tie at the end of regulation and a scoreless first overtime period, Clayton State got the break it needed in the second overtime. Johnny Lara ran down a loose ball and fed a pass to Hailab Habtom at midfield. Habtom then found Crooks on a breakaway pass down the right sideline for a 12-yard strike past Pacer goalkeeper Harold Tate for the game-winner.
 
Clayton State took a 1-0 lead in the 21^st minute as Habtom scored on a header off a cross pass from Rall. However, USC-Aiken (9-5-2, 3-1-2) converted the equalizer on a goal by Adam Lambert in the 68^th minute.
 
Clayton State had 16 shots to 11 for USC-Aiken.
 
Clayton State can wrap up its second straight outright Peach Belt championship on Saturday at 7 p.m. at USC-Upstate.
  MORROW, Ga. - Another banner is going up for the Clayton State Laker men's soccer team on the back fence at Laker Field.
 
Playing their final regular season game of the 2007 regular season, Clayton State had to battle tooth-and-nail to a 1-1 stalemate against visiting Francis Marion at Laker Field on Saturday night. However, the tie, coupled with USC-Aiken's 3-1 defeat at UNC-Pembroke, gives Clayton State the outright Peach Belt Conference championship and the No. 1 seed in next weekend's PBC Tournament at Laker Field.
 
It's the third straight regular season Peach Belt championship for 13^th-ranked Clayton State, which is now 12-3-2 overall and 4-1-1 in the conference. It's the fourth overall regular season crown for the Lakers.
 
Scrappy Francis Marion frustrated the Lakers all game long, packing all 11 players deep on defense and not allowing Clayton State and good shot at the goal. In fact, the final statistics were one-sided as Clayton State dominated in shots 31-4.
 
However, Francis Marion cashed in on one of those four shots in the 60th minute when Kyle Clinton scored off a corner kick to give the Patriots a 1-0 lead.
 
However, Clayton State got the needed equalizer with five minutes remaining. Goalkeeper Billy Hale drop kicked a great incoming pass to B.J. Livingston at the top of the penalty box. Livingston then headed the ball to the left and Tonny Madegwa punched home the goal past Patriot goalkeeper Clark Richeson.
 
Neither team threatened much in the overtime until the final seconds when Laker freshman Jamal Geathers broke through the Francis Marion defense and had a clear shot at the game-winner. However, his shot hit the crossbar with 12 seconds remaining.
 
Hale and Janiel Simon combined for two saves for Clayton State, while Richeson was superb, recording 13 saves for Francis Marion (5-11-1, 1-4-1).
 
Clayton State draws a bye as the number one seed to Friday's semifinal round, in which they will play host to the winner of the North Georgia-USC-Aiken quarterfinal winner.
  MORROW, Ga. - In what will go down as one of the "Classics" in the history of Peach Belt Conference men's soccer tournament championships, the Clayton State Lakers rallied hard for a thrilling 3-2 victory over Lander on Sunday afternoon at Laker Field as Peach Belt Conference Freshman of the Year Jamal Geathers provided the game-winning goal in the 102^nd minute.
 
The Peach Belt Conference tournament championship is the second in the last three seasons for 14^th-ranked Clayton State, and the third overall for the Lakers in program history. The victory also improved Clayton State to 14-3-3 overall, the most victories in a season for the Lakers since winning 18 games in the 2000 season.
 
It was the fifth overtime championship game in the history of the Peach Belt Conference Men's Soccer Tournament, which was first played in 1991.
 
The Lakers appeared to be left for dead, trailing 2-0 in the 62^nd minute when Lander's Aaron Brittain scored on a breakaway goal off an assist by Jamie Davison. However, three minutes later, Clayton State was back in the game when Geathers cut the lead in half with a header off a left cross from Hailab Habtom.
 
It stayed 2-1 until the 79^th minute when Peach Belt Conference co-Player of the Year Tonny Madegwa tied on a header in front of the goal off a corner kick by Jarrid Nicholson.
 
The game went into the second overtime session when Geathers struck again. The flashy forward stole a Bearcat clear pass in the middle of the field and hammered home the game-winner from 35-yards out.
 
Lander took a 1-0 lead six minute into the contest when Jamie Ramm scored on a header in front of the goal off a corner kick by Davison.
 
Clayton State goalkeeper Billy Hale recorded two saves, while Garrett Daum recorded two as well for Lander (13-4-3). Clayton State out-shot Lander 14-9.
 
Madegwa was selected the tournament Most Valuable Player for Clayton State and was joined on the All-Tournament team by teammates Geathers, Nicholson and Hale. Lander's All-Tournament team selections were Brittain, Ramm and defender Ryan Thorman.
 
Together, these seven players were added to the rest of the All-Tournament, which consisted of Derek Schicker, (Georgia Southwestern), Adam Lambert (USC Aiken), Kyle Clinton (Francis Marion), Steve Locker (UNC Pembroke), Thomas Morrow (UNC Pembroke), Brandon Kirksey (North Georgia) and Jose Herrera (North Georgia).
 
Clayton State will receive its official NCAA Division II National Tournament bid on Monday.
 
Schedule of NCAA 20^th Anniversary Countdown Releases
No. 1 (July 11)
No. 2 (July 9)
No. 3 (July 5)
No. 4 (July 2)
No. 5 (June 29)
No. 6 (June 27)
No. 7 (June 25)
No. 8 (June 22)
No. 9 (June 20)
No. 10 (June 18)
No. 11 (June 15)
No. 12 Men's Soccer Wins Five PBC Championships in Three Seasons From 2005-07 (June 13)
No. 13 Women's Tennis Claims Rare PBC Championship in 2001 (June 11)
No. 14 Women's Soccer Sweeps PBC Titles and Heads to NCAA's in 2005 (June 8)
No. 15 Women's Basketball Makes First Elite Eight in 2006-07 (June 6)
No. 16 Men's Cross Country Delivers Record Setting 2005 Season (June 4)
No. 17 Women's Basketball Wins No. 1 vs. No. 2 Game vs. Lander on February 10, 2011 (June 1)
No. 18 Men's Basketball Wins First Ever PBC Championship in 2001-02 Regular Season Finale (May 30)
No. 19 Women's Cross Country Wins PBC, Heads to 2012 NCAA National Championships (May 28)
No. 20 Women's Tennis Makes NCAA Tournament in 1999 (May 25)