MORROW, Ga. – In their first home Peach Belt Conference action of the season, Clayton State (4-3-1, 1-2-1 PBC) battled rival Columbus State (6-6-0, 2-4-0 PBC) before allowing a two goal second half margin and fell by a 3-1 score in an NCAA Division II women's soccer game on Saturday, October 12.
 
Even with a record not what most are used to seeing, the Cougars still possess a potent offense and they displayed it early. In just the sixth minute they would make it 1-0 as Flo Spano crossed the ball from the right wing to the front of the goal mouth. There Riley Clark would collect it and promptly loft it over the keeper for her eighth goal of the season, this at 5:26.
 
It would take 17 minutes but the Lakers would deliver the equalizer as senior midfielder Manoly Baquerizo (Guayaquil, Ecuador) set up the tying score at 22:56. Sophomore midfielder Marie Devillers (Toulouse, France) picked it up on the left wing before charging in and driving it to the left corner, narrowly past the keeper, to make it 1-1.
 
It wouldn't stay deadlocked for long, however, as Clark would strike again for the Cougars. It would come less than two minutes later as she and Spano connected again with a pass from the right side. Clark then powered it home to retake the lead at 2-1 and with 24:09 gone by. The clubs would then take that margin to the half as both locked down defensively.
 
In the second half it would be Clark again as she delivered the hat trick, this time off a pass from Kimmy May. This found her on the left side and put her in position to put it past the keeper to the right corner at the 54:43 mark. From there the defenses would take back over for the duration as Columbus State closed out the 3-1 decision just over 35 minutes later.
 
Clark led the way for the Cougars with all three goals while Spano assisted on two of those. May added the only other offense with an assist on the final one of those. In net, Bria Riancho started and played the first 45 minutes, allowing the one goal against three saves to move to 6-5 on the year. Sara Halilhodzic relieved her in the second half, playing a scoreless 45 minutes and making four saves.
 
For the Lakers, Devillers delivered her third career goal, and first of the season, while Baquerizo notched an assist on that play for the only offense. The latter also tied with sophomore midfielder Pia Haug (Ytre Enebakk, Norway) with three shots, putting two of them on net. Junior goalkeeper Valentina Bonaiuto (Valencia, Venezuela) played all 90 minutes, making six saves and allowing three goals to drop to 4-3-1.
 
The Lakers return to action on Wednesday, October 16 when they take on USC Aiken in a makeup game from September 28. That is set for the original 6 p.m. kickoff at Laker Field.
 
FULL GAME VIDEO


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