TIGERVILLE, S.C. – Back in action after nearly a week off Clayton State (1-4-1, 0-0-0 PBC) could not overcome an offensive onslaught as North Greenville (3-1-1, 1-0-1) powered to a 5-2 victory in an NCAA Division II men's soccer game on Tuesday, September 18.
 
In a series dominated by the Lakers, NGU would get the benefit of a rare early lead. With a loose ball in front of the goal, Zach Baker collected it and drove it home for a 1-0 margin with just 3:43 gone by. In a reversal of fortune, that scoring would continue as Casey Brady connected at the 15:38 mark to make it a 2-0 lead.
 
The Lakers defense would then settle down over the next 15 minutes and present the offense with an opportunity to get going. That would be an opportunity that junior forward Dean Foster (Johannesburg, South Africa) would take advantage of as he powered one to the back of the net at the 30:42 mark to cut it to 2-1
 
That momentum would be short lived, however, as junior goalkeeper Leuri Fraire (Dalton, Ga.) was given a red card in the 32^nd minute. Freshman goalkeeper Kari Puustinen (Orimattila, Finland) then came in cold and Gareth Greene made the most of the free kick as he drilled it to the back of the net for a 3-1 lead at 31:10.
 
Clayton State, playing with 10 men, upped the pace to the point you couldn't tell the difference and capitalized right away as sophomore midfielder Mitro Turunen (Vantaa, Finland) converted to make it 3-2 with 34:32 gone by. The frenetic pace would continue, however, as Baker answered right back at the other end with his second score, this one making it 4-2 at 35:11. Despite that up tempo pace the teams would take that margin to the half.
 
That newly found defensive mindset would continue into the 62^nd minute but no further as it would be NGU that would once again find the back of the net. This time it would be Ben Mackay putting it home to make it 5-2 with 61:19 gone by. That would be the last of the offense though as the Crusaders would go on to close out the three goal victory just under 30 minutes later.
 
Baker led North Greenville with a pair of goals while Greene, Brady and Mackay each accounted for one apiece. In net, Noah Kendrick surrendered just the two scores and made six saves to pick up the win and move to 3-1-1 on the year.
 
For Clayton State, it would be Foster and Turunen delivering the offense as each posted a goal. In between the pipes, Fraire would start and go 31:07 before being chased with a red card. In that time he would allow a pair of scores against two saves to drop to 1-3-1. Puustinen came on in relief, playing the final 58:53 and giving up three scores while making two saves.
 
The Lakers return home to face Georgia Southwestern on Saturday, September 22. Game time is set for approximately 3:30 p.m. following the women's game
 
NOTES
The five goals are the most scored by North Greenville in any game in the series history … in fact, that total surpasses their series total of three goals, which were scored in the two most recent games in the series.