MORROW, Ga. – In a season in which Clayton State (11-4, 3-1 PBC) has rewritten the program's offensive records, they added another chapter with an impressive 8-0 drubbing of North Greenville (2-13, 2-7 CC) in an NCAA Division II men's soccer game on Wednesday, October 29.
 
The eight goals equal the second most ever scored by the program at Laker Field, trailing only a 9-0 blanking of NGU on October 26, 2005 and 9-0 final vs. Morehouse on October 2, 2002. It matches an 8-0 win over Pfeiffer on September 13, 2013 and an 8-1 decision over the Crusaders on October 16, 2007. Of the seven times the Lakers have scored at least eight goals, three have come against North Greenville.
 
After a surprisingly scoreless first 20 minutes the flood gates would not just open, they would shatter and float down river. That offensive deluge would be started by sophomore forward Brad Kay (Manchester, England) in the 21^st minute as he broke free down the middle, took advantage of a misplayed ball near the net and circled around to the right before firing the ball into the left corner for a 1-0 lead at 20:14.
 
He, much like the Lakers as a whole, would just be getting started as just over two minutes later he played a key role in the second goal of the night. He would collect a ball on the left side of the net and drive it across to the right post where freshman midfielder Geo Rios (Lawrenceville, Ga.) promptly put it home at the 22:16 mark for a 2-0 margin.
 
Kay would then take a more active role once again as he took a pass from sophomore midfielder Jack Stevens (Brisbane, Australia) with 23:45 gone by. Positioned right in front of the net, Kay headed it down and past the keeper to make it 3-0 over the course of less than three and a half minutes. In that time he had two goals and an assist.
 
Not done by far he would pass the baton to redshirt-senior midfielder Ryan King (County Durham, England) for the next round of offense. One of the top scorers in NCAA Division II, he would quickly add to that.
 
Towards the tail end of the 32^nd minute he would see an opportunity down the right side line and turned on the jets, seemingly stunning the charging keeper. That resulted in a foul just inside the box by the keeper and setting up King's third penalty kick of the season. Just like the first two, he would connect as the keeper guessed left and he went right to make it 4-0 at the 31:54 mark.
 
King would be presented with another premium scoring opportunity just under eight minutes later as he took a free kick just off the left wing of the box. From there, over a six man wall, he would bend it into the top left corner of the net to push to a 5-0 advantage a 39:52. That would be the margin Clayton State would take to the break but not where they would end up 45 minutes later.
 
North Greenville held their own at the beginning of the period again, this time through the first 22 minutes, but it would not last. In the ultimate example off a good defense being your best offense, a trio of defenders would have a hand in bringing about the Lakers sixth goal, this at the 67:43 mark.
 
Redshirt-senior defensive midfielder Connor Atkinson (Liverpool, England) served a corner to the far post where graduate defender Tim Neusesser (Bad Berleburg, Germany) controlled it in the air and got it to graduate defender Josh Rodgers (New Castle, England) right in front of the net. The keeper never had a chance as he powered it home for the first score of the half.
 
It would not be the last or even second to last of that frame, however, as the Lakers kept coming up with skillful and entertaining ways to score. The next would come when sophomore forward Langston Blackstock (Marietta, Ga.) got the ball in the box and delivered a touch pass to the right side of the net to senior midfielder Dusan Stankovic (Belgrade, Serbia). The latter then headed it down and in to make it 7-0 with 83:34 off the clock.
 
Even with time running down Clayton State's offense did not throttle down. Stevens, four goals removed from his assist in the first half, would help close things out with a push down the left sideline and a chip ahead to redshirt-sophomore midfielder Cody Crimmins (McDonough, Ga.). He would collect that pass and play it into the back right corner at 87:11 to reach the eventual final margin of 8-0.
 
The Crusaders managed just seven shots on the night, putting three on net. Gareth Greene handled a team-high three of those with one of the shots on frame to pace the offense. Dawson Martin started and played the first half, allowing five goals against just four saves to fall to 0-4 on the year. Noah Kendrick relieved him, playing the final 45 minutes, surrendering three goals and making three saves.
 
Kay led the way for a prodigious Laker offense with a pair of goals and an assist while King wasn't far behind with two scores of his own to drive his season total to 12. That mark equals his career-high from the 2016 season. Rodgers, Rios, Stankovic and Crimmins would each deliver solo goals while Stevens posted a pair of assists. He was joined by Neusesser, Atkinson and Blackstock with an assist apiece.
 
In net, junior goalkeeper Theo Blachon (St. Etienne, France) delivered his eighth shutout of the season as he played all 90 minutes and made a pair of saves. He entered the night ranked seventh in Division II in shutouts and improves to 11-4 on the year.
 
The Lakers will now begin their most important stretch of the season as they head to No. 7 Francis Marion (10-2-1, 3-1-0 PBC) on Saturday, November 2. Game time is set for 3:30 p.m. in Florence, South Carolina.
 
That trip will be followed with another major showdown, this one at No. 25 Lander on November 6. Clayton State is tied with both of those teams, as well as No. 15 Young Harris, for the top spot in the Peach Belt Conference entering the final weeks of the season.
 
HIGHEST SCORING GAMES IN PROGRAM HISTORY
9/11/19 – 10-0 at Southern Wesleyan
10/26/05 – 9-0 vs. North Greenville
10/22/02 – 9-1 at St. Andrews
10/2/02 – 9-0 vs. Morehouse
10/29/19 – 8-0 vs. North Greenville
9/13/13 – 8-0 vs. Pfeiffer
10/16/07 – 8-1 vs. North Greenville