MORROW, Ga. – In a span of less than 15 minutes, Clayton State (1-2, 0-0 PBC) put the game out of reach as they powered their way to a 7-1 victory Shorter (0-4, 0-0 GSC) in an NCAA Division II men's soccer game on Thursday, September 6.
 
That barrage would start early on as sophomore midfielder Mitro Turunen (Vantaa, Finland) broke in at the top of the box and dished to the right to junior forward Dean Foster (Johannesburg, South Africa) who buried the ball into the back right corner of the net at the 4:24 mark.
 
Up 1-0, that margin would double just over a minute later as freshman forward Brad Kay (Manchester, England) redirected a long serve. That carom would end up on the foot of fellow freshman, midfielder Jack Stevens (Brisbane, Australia), but not for long as he drove it right down the center of the goal for a 2-0 lead with just 5:30 gone by.
 
The onslaught would continue at the 6:59 mark as last year's Peach Belt Conference Gold Ball Winner, senior defender Kwaku Dwamena (Lorton, Va.), took a pass from Turunen straight up the middle. From there he beat the keeper for his first score. It would be the second assist of the night for the 2017 PBC Co-Freshman of the Year.
 
In a bit of a pause in the scoring, it would take Dwamena a little more than seven minutes to get his second score. This one came off a run down the right side by Kay, who then found Dwamena in front of the net to make it 4-0 with 14:18 off the clock. That margin would then run to the half – but it wouldn't stay that way for much longer than that.
 
Dwamena would continue to make up for lost time from the first two games as he quickly found redshirt-junior midfielder Carlos Naranjo (Fayetteville, Ga.) from the wing just three minutes in. Off that pass Naranjo drilled it into the upper right corner of the netting for a commanding 5-0 advantage.
 
The Lakers primary offensive threat wasn't done as he then found junior defender Hector Gutierrez (Asheville, N.C.) off of a rare corner for him. He fed the ball into the right wing where Gutierrez lofted it over the outstretched arms of the keeper for a 6-0 margin with 63:18 played. It would be his first goal since donning the Orange and Blue.
 
Little more than three minutes later it would be a run down the left line by Dwamena that would setup the club's seventh and final goal. That would come off a feed to the right side of the goalmouth where Kay waited to plunk it into the wide open corner.
 
The Hawks would break up the shutout in the 75^th minute, however, as Sergio Vasquez collected a loose ball in front of the net and deposited it into the left corner to make it 7-1. That would go on to become the final margin just over 15 minutes later.
 
As a team Shorter managed just eight shots, three on net, with Hernan Saldana leading the way with three total. While producing just one shot, Vasquez made the most of it as he scored their lone goal. In net, Sean Carpenter went the distance and allowed all seven goals while making just a pair of saves. He falls to 0-2 on the season.
 
For Clayton State, it was their highest single game scoring output since bludgeoning then Division II Pfeiffer 8-0 on September 13, 2013. That was also at Laker Field. Individually, Dwamena broke his single game career-high for points with seven and assists with three. Previously he had posted six points on three goals vs. Southern Wesleyan (9/13/17) and had one assist on four occasions.
 
He was joined by Kay with a goal and two assists and Turunen with a pair of assists. Foster, stevens and Gutierrez each added a solo score. Holding down the home front was junior goalkeeper Leuri Fraire (Dalton, Ga.), who played his first complete game of the year, registering two saves and one goal allowed. He moves to 1-1 on the season.
 
The Lakers wrap up a season opening four game homestand on Saturday, September 8 when they host Tampa (0-1-2, 0-0-0 SSC). Game time is set for 6 p.m. at Laker Field.
 
NOTES
Clayton State is now 5-1 all-time against Shorter.
 

Shorter vs. Clayton State (9/6/18)