MORROW, Ga. – In the traditional slugfest that their meetings usually are, Clayton State (10-3-0, 3-0-0 PBC) recovered from an early 2-0 deficit to race past North Georgia (4-7-1, 1-2-0 PBC) by a 5-3 score in an NCAA Division II men's soccer game on Wednesday, October 23. The win allows them to maintain their lead in the Peach Belt Conference with nine points and remain the only league undefeated.
 
Following a 0-0, 5-4 penalty kick classic in last year's PBC Quarterfinals, the Nighthawks would come out and make sure that this would not be a scoreless classic, but a classic nonetheless. With seven minutes gone by, Jack Newhouse pushed the ball up the middle and delivered a touch pass to Eren Ozer right in front of the net. The latter then drove it home to the left side for a 1-0 lead.
 
Lightning would strike twice just over eight minutes later as Victor Galterio drilled a shot off the left post and watched it carom back in front of the goal mouth. Right there to collect it and put it home was Ozer for a commanding 2-0 lead at the 15:06 mark.
 
Down but certainly not out, the Lakers would battle back less than five minutes later. Junior midfielder Henry Nguyen (Helsinki, Finland) drove the ball down the left sideline and drilled an airborne pass to the far right post. Waiting there was sophomore forward Brad Kay (Manchester, England) who headed it down and in to make it 2-1 with 19:44 gone by.
 
It would stay that way for nearly 15 minutes but when it changed it would once again be on the home side. This time it would come in the form of a well-placed corner kick by freshman midfielder Geo Rios (Lawrenceville, Ga.) in the 35^th minute.
 
That ball would go to the middle of the goal mouth where graduate defender Tim Neusesser (Bad Berleburg, Germany) headed it home to knot things up at 2-2 at the 34:18 mark. Despite continued offensive pressure, neither club would find the back of the net over the remaining 10-plus minutes as they headed to the break deadlocked.
 
It wouldn't take long for that to change as Laker redshirt-freshman midfielder Olavo Guimaraes (Sao Paulo, Brazil) took matters into his own hands in the first two and a half minutes. He would collect a rebound on the left side of the goal, circle a defender and line up straight on with the keeper, powering it past him to the right corner for a 3-2 lead at 47:30.
 
Nearly 20 minutes later it would be a familiar face getting in the scoring column, aided by an individual in the midst of a record setting night. Rios drove the ball down the left sideline before finding redshirt-senior midfielder Ryan King (County Durham, England) further along. The latter stepped over a defender and proceeded to charge in on the keeper before hammering the ball to the back right corner to make it 4-2 with 66:08 gone by.
 
UNG would break up that stretch of four straight goals by Clayton State in the 73^rd minute when a loose ball in close would result in a score to pull them within one. Donovan Odier corralled the ball amongst teammates and defenders alike before finding Jordan Day at the 72:11 mark to cut it to 4-3.
 
What worked before would then work again as Rios utilized his speed to rush down the middle of the field in the 79^th minute, once again finding King. To change it up a bit, it would be on the right side of the goal and one of the nation's leading scorers would add to his totals, hitting double-digits as he put it home in the air at 78:58. That would bring the score to the eventual final margin of 5-3 just minutes later.
 
Ozer led the way for the Nighthawks with a pair of scores while Day added the only other goal. Newhouse, Galterio and Odier each added solo assists to round out the offense. Conner Domaleski played all 90 minutes in net, allowing all five goals while making five saves. He falls to 4-3-1 on the year.
 
Rios would make history as he led the Lakers with three assists, becoming the 16^th individual in program history to accomplish that feat and the first since Kwaku Dwamena last season on September 6 against Shorter. In a rare "defense optional" game, Clayton State got a pair of scores from King to drive his season total to 10 and raise his average to 1.00, which will place him in a tie for third in Division II.
 
Kay would add his seventh goal of the year while Guimaraes and Neusesser each added single scores. Nguyen would pick up the only other assist on the night, marking his first points as a Laker. In net, it was another rare game that proved that junior goalkeeper Theo Blachon (St. Etienne, France) is indeed human as he surrendered a career-high three goals while making four saves. Even so, he collects the win to move to 10-3 on the season.
 
Clayton State continues their Peach Belt Conference slate as they host No. 21 Young Harris in key meeting on Saturday, October 26. Game time is set for 3:30 p.m. at Laker Field.
 
NOTES
With the win, it is now the 14^th season with double-digit victories in the program's 28 seasons … it is their first since the 2013 team went 10-5-2.