MORROW, Ga. – It took until the final minutes but Clayton State (2-4-1, 1-0-0 PBC) capped a second half comeback and pulled out a thrilling 3-2 victory over Georgia Southwestern (2-5-1, 0-1-0) in an NCAA Division II men's soccer game on Saturday, September 22.
 
As exciting a finish as it was, the game started out rather ignominiously for the Lakers as GSW took a 1-0 lead at the 17:39 mark when they were the beneficiaries of an own goal. They would not be able to hold that advantage long, however, as Clayton State responded less than three minutes later.
 
Awarded a corner kick, sophomore midfielder Mitro Turunen (Vantaa, Finland) lofted the ball to the middle of the box. Junior midfielder Dusan Stankovic (Belgrade, Serbia) then corralled it and fired over the top of the keeper for the equalizer at the 20:35 mark.
 
The score would remain knotted at 1-1 until the 34^th minute when the Hurricanes were able to capitalize on an offensive opportunity. Matheus Alves raced into the offensive end on the right side and drilled a ball from the right wing that ended up in the back left corner of the net. That goal at 33:32 gave them a 2-1 lead but it would be their last of the day.
 
That score held up through halftime and into the second half but it wouldn't hold up forever. Senior defender Kwaku Dwamena (Richmond, Va.) would see to that. Just into the 56^th minute he took a pass from junior forward Dean Foster (Johannesburg, South Africa) that went through the middle of GSW's offensive end, raced toward the goal and drove the ball past the keeper on the right hand side. His team leading third goal of the season deadlocked it at 2-2 with 55:08 gone by.
 
What it also did was spark both team's defenses to lock it down as neither team would find the back of the net over the next 30 minutes. That would change as Dwamena again impacted the game, and his team's fortunes, this time in the 88^th minute. Having collected a ball in traffic in front of the net, he sent it out towards the right wing to the waiting foot of junior defender Hector Gutierrez (Asheville, N.C.).
 
A defender by trade, Gutierrez is doing well to masquerade as an offensive force as he rifled the ball into the back of the net for his second goal of the season. Despite a possession by Georgia Southwestern, that would signal the end of any chance they had as the Lakers closed out the 3-2 victory in their Peach Belt Conference opener.
 
Alves would account for the only real offense for the Hurricanes as he delivered their second goal. The first had come on an own goal by Clayton State and is not credited to a GSW player. That left Dylan Marshall among the other offensive leaders with three shots, none on goal, and Thiago Elias and Jonathan Sayers with two shots apiece. Only Elias put one of his on goal. Francesco Bazzano played all 90 minutes in goal, allowing all three goals and making six saves to fall to 2-4.
 
Dwamena led the Lakers with the game tying goal and an assist on the eventual game-winner while Stankovic put home his first career goal at the NCAA level. Gutierrez, however, was the one to deliver the game winner with his one score and Turunen and Foster added assists. Making his first career start in goal, freshman goalkeeper Kari Puustinen (Orimattila, Finland) played all 90 minutes and made a pair of saves against two goals allowed to collect his career win. He improves to 1-1 this season.
 
Clayton State now hits the road for three straight beginning at Auburn-Montgomery (1-6, 0-1 GSC) on Wednesday, September 26. Game time is set for 8 p.m. (EST) in Montgomery, Alabama.
 
NOTES
With the win, the Lakers are now 11-2 all-time against Georgia Southwestern and have won five of the last six dating from October 23, 2013.
 

Georgia Southwestern vs. Clayton State (9/22/18)