MORROW, Ga. – For the fifth straight year, throughout the summer, the Clayton State Sports Information Office is counting down the Top-10 stories of the year following an impressive 2018-19 campaign.
Today, we release the No. 8 story of the season – Undefeated Start Leads Women's Soccer Back to PBC Tournament. Make sure to check
www.ClaytonStateSports.com every Friday to catch the latest release.
Story No. 8: Undefeated Start Leads Women's Soccer Back to PBC Tournament
Following a disappointing result the previous year, Clayton State women's soccer wasted no time righting the ship in 2018.
After opening the season with a 5-3 win at Auburn-Montgomery (8/30) the Lakers showed their mettle against Valdosta State (9/2). Deadlocked at 0-0 in the final minute, junior defender
Manoly Baquerizo (Guayaquil, Ecuador)
powered home the game-winner with 19 seconds to play.
Relive the full broadcast with the call by Bill Schindler at the very end.
They would continue to be on point defensively as they headed to the 2018 Bobcat Invitational where they notched back-to-back 1-1 ties against
West Georgia (9/7) and
Montevallo (9/9) to stretch to four straight undefeated to start the year.
That run would grow to five in a row as Clayton State downed Georgia Southwestern (9/19) by a 4-1 score, making it the
second longest stretch to open the season in program history. It would be another pair of ties that would highlight the back half of the season, however.
On October 15, on just a day's rest and pushing for a berth in the 2018 Peach Belt Conference Tournament, the Lakers battled No. 13 North Georgia at Laker Field. UNG would take an early 1-0 lead and Clayton State would be down to 10 players just after halftime but would notch the equalizer and hold on for
a thrilling 1-1 tie against one of the best teams in the country.
Coming off a 2-1 win at Young Harris (10/20) that put them in line for that postseason spot the Lakers would step up in the regular season finale at USC Aiken (10/24). After posting an early 2-0 lead they would weather two first half goals to tie it before holding on for
a 2-2 tie that put them back in the PBC Tournament for the 17
th time in 19 years.
In terms of recognition, it would be junior defender
Janne Brouer (Aarhus, Denmark)
continuing an 18-year streak as she was selected to the All-PBC Second-Team following a tremendous defensive campaign. Clayton State would also see an impressive
six individuals named to the PBC All-Academic Team. Additionally, Baquerizo led the team with eight goals, five assists and 21 points while Brouer, graduate defender
Hikari Taguchi (Saitama, Japan) and sophomore
Hannah Richards (Huddersfield, England)
anchored a defense that had eight games of one goal allowed or fewer, including a pair of shutouts.
The Schedule
Every Friday throughout the Summer and leading up to the 2019-20 preseason, the SID Office will release the list one at a time beginning with the No. 10 story on June 7. The No. 1 story in Clayton State Athletics, as chosen by the Sports Information Office, will be released on Friday, August 9.
Countdown to the Top-10 Clayton State Athletics Stories from 2018-19
No. 1 – Coming August 9
No. 2 – Coming August 2
No. 3 – Coming July 26
No. 4 – Coming July 19
No. 5 – Coming July 12
No. 6 – Coming July 5
No. 7 – Coming June 28
No. 8 – Undefeated Start Leads Women's Soccer Back to PBC Tournament (June 21)
No. 9 – Men's Basketball Garners Record-Setting Honors (June 14)
No. 10 – Men's Soccer's Late Run and Individual Accomplishments (June 7)
Honorable Mention (May 31)
