MORROW, Ga. – Stepping into the 2018 season with half a new roster, Clayton State (1-0, 0-0 PBC) asserted itself on offense regularly as they outpaced Auburn-Montgomery (0-1, 0-0 GSC) by a 5-3 score in an NCAA Division II women's soccer game on Thursday, August 30.
 
The Lakers would find plenty of opportunities on offense over the first 50 minutes as they raced out to a commanding 4-0 lead. Freshman midfielder Pia Haug (Ytre Enebakk, Norway) got things started when she took a pass from freshman midfielder Marie Devillers (Toulouse, France) that left her an open net at the 10:35 mark.
 
Just 15 minutes later it would be Haug setting things up as she connected with junior defender Manoly Baquerizo (Guayaquil, Ecuador) for a 2-0 lead at 25:49. After taking that margin into the half they fired it right back up at the beginning of the second 45 minutes.
 
Freshman forward Shannon McGregor (Fayettvile, Ga.) took it herself just past the opening minute to make it 3-0 at 46:03 and Devillers followed at 49:56. Freshman midfielder Chiara Rosener (Minden, Germany) set up the latter with her first career assist.
 
At that point AUM's offense woke up as Ruby Mendez took a pass from Melissa Fernandez and buried it into the back of the net at the 52:58 mark. Less than 14 minutes later Mendez setup Mayson Jaindl to make it 4-2 with 66:06 gone by.
 
A goal by Allison Singleterry, with a rare double assist from both of the previous goal scorers in Mendez and Jaindl, then made it a game at 4-3 at the 68:15 mark. That would be as close as they would get, however, as a pair of Laker defenders got together to generate some offense. Graduate defender Hikari Taguchi (Saitama, Japan) found junior defender Janne Brouer (Aarhus, Denmark) with 75:05 gone by and she promptly made it 5-3, which the defense would then make the final margin 25 minutes later.
 
Mendez led the Warhawks with a goal and pair of assists while Jaindl had a goal and an assist. They were joined by Singleterry with a score and Fernandez with an assist. Felicia Wester started and played 53:48 before being pulled after allowing four goals against just one save. She falls to 0-1 on the year while Dejon Fletcher made a save and allowed a goal in 36:12 of relief action.
 
It was clearly a mix of returnees and newcomers for Clayton State as Devillers and Haug each had a goal and assist – both the first of their career – and McGregor picked up her first goal. Brouer and Baquerizo meanwhile led the veterans with a goal apiece. Sophomore Hannah Richards (Huddersfield, England) put up one more performance for the newcomers as she went the distance, allowing three goals and making five saves to move to 1-0.
 
The Lakers will get to see their home field this weekend as they host Valdosta State on Sunday, September 2 at 6 p.m. They won't be able to get used to it, however, as they will then not return to Laker Field for game action until September 19, nearly three weeks later.