AMERICUS, Ga. – When it comes to a defensive battle, it plays directly to the strength of Clayton State (7-2, 1-0 PBC) and that was certainly the case as they notched their sixth shutout of the season in a 2-0 road decision over Georgia Southwestern (3-5, 0-1 PBC) in an NCAA Division II men's soccer game on Saturday, October 5.
 
Neither team could capitalize on an array of shots over the first 34 minutes but it would be the Lakers that would break through. Junior forward Isaac Pimenta (Atlanta, Ga.) would see to it they would be playing from in front as he connected at the 34:10 mark for a 1-0 lead.
 
While that margin would hold to and through the half, it would not last much longer than that. In the 51^st minute redshirt-senior midfielder Ryan King (County Durham, England) found speedy freshman midfielder Geo Rios (Lawrenceville, Ga.) on a free kick that put him in position to drive home Clayton State's second goal for a 2-0 margin with 50:29 gone by.
 
The Lakers would fire off 10 more of their 34 shots compared to just two more for GSW but could not connect down the stretch. They wouldn't need to as the defense continued to lock up the Hurricane's attempts at offense on their way to their sixth shutout and the 2-0 victory.
 
Georgia Southwestern managed just six shots on the night with five of those on frame. Leading the way would be Sebastian Da Silva with half of the attempts and three of the team's shots on goal. Matthew Sherry played all 90 minutes making six saves against the two goals allowed to drop to 1-1.
 
Goals by Rios and Pimenta, along with an assist by King, accounted for Clayton State's offense while graduate defender Josh Rodgers (New Castle, England) outshot GSW by himself with seven attempts on the night. In net, junior goalkeeper Theo Blachon (St. Etienne, France) delivered another sterling performance as he notched his NCAA Division II tying sixth shutout behind five saves to move to 7-2 on the year.
 
In what will be a reunion on Alumni Weekend, the Lakers will take the week to prepare for the return of former coach John Rootes (1998-2003) as he brings his No. 17 Lynn team to Laker Field on Saturday, October 12. Game time is set for a special 3:30 p.m. kickoff and will be followed by the women's game against rival Columbus State at 6 p.m.