MORROW, Ga. – For those that say that soccer offers no offense, Clayton State (3-0, 0-0 PBC) delivered a clear and resounding dent to that theory as they erupted for a program record 10-0 victory at Southern Wesleyan (0-2, 0-0 CC) in an NCAA Division II men's soccer game on Wednesday, September 11.
 
Much like the old Casey Kasem line "and the hits just keep on comin'", the same could be said of the Lakers offense on this night. That onslaught would begin in the 15^th minute as redshirt-sophomore midfielder Cody Crimmins (McDonough, Ga.) collected his first career goal at the 14:37 mark off an assist from redshirt-senior midfielder Ryan King (County Durham, England) for a 1-0 advantage.
 
In an eight minute stretch, that would be the beginning of an offensive barrage that ballooned the lead to 4-0 with 22:35 gone by. King, the reigning Peach Belt Conference Offensive Player of the Week, was the next up as graduate defender Josh Rodgers (New Castle, England) delivered a deep through ball to the offensive end of the field. He would settle it and rifle it past the keeper for a two goal margin at 18:19.
 
That only added fuel to the fire as senior defender Jordan Knight (Javea, Spain) delivered a tremendous cross from the right wing to the head of King just over three minutes later. King would then head it to the back of the right side of the net for his second score of the night.
 
The hits would keep on coming as the offensive pressure continued, this time with a ball bouncing off of the right goal post. Right there to capitalize would be sophomore forward Langston Blackstock (Marietta, Ga.)
with his first career goal, this one to make it 4-0 at the 22:35 mark. It would then take him exactly three minutes and 20 seconds to pick up his second, and in almost the same fashion as his first score. He would bang home another rebound for his second of the night at 25:55.
 
A foul in the box would present another tremendous opportunity for Clayton State as they were awarded a penalty kick at the 31:48 mark. That would result in Ryan King's third career hat trick as he put home his third score of the half for a 6-0 advantage.
 
Nearing the close of the first half it would be another scoring opportunity for the Lakers as a foul just outside of the box setup a free kick just to the left of the center of the field. That would be taken, and drilled home, by redshirt-senior midfielder Connor Atkinson (Liverpool, England) to make it 7-0, which would be the margin that they would take to the break. It would be his first career goal.
 
Despite the required halftime break, the Clayton State offense would not be deterred as they continued the attack, striking again with just over seven minutes gone by. That would come in the form of senior defender Hector Gutierrez (Asheville, N.C.) delivering a laser-focused cross from the right side to the foot of senior defender Ignacio Perez (Madrid, Spain). Positioned just to the left of the goal mouth, he drilled it home to make it 8-0 at the 52:20 mark.
 
With 66:33 gone by, sophomore forward Brad Kay (Manchester, England) redirected a ball from redshirt-senior midfielder Mitro Turunen (Fayetteville, Ga.) to tie the program record and make it 9-0. It would take 16 minutes but Kay would become the answer to a Laker trivia question as he also scored the record breaker, driving it home with 82:35 gone by.

That would come off of penetration by junior midfielder Mitro Turunen (Vantaa, Finland) before passing back near the top of the box. While they would keep the pressure up down the stretch that would be all the scoring for the night as they wrapped up a record-setting 10-0 victory.
 
Those 10 goals surpass the three previous times a Laker team had scored nine goals, the last of those being a 9-0 whitewashing of North Greenville on October 26, 2005. The other two both came in the 2002 season with a 9-1 win at St. Andrews (October 22) and another 9-0 decision, this time against Morehouse (10/2). To put this record-setting total in further perspective, it is nearly half of the 21 goals scored by Clayton State all of last season.
 
On the night, Southern Wesleyan posted just five shots and only one on net. Grant Kiker and Caleb Compton each had two attempts while Noah Sims had the only shot on goal. Brandon Smith (0-1) started in goal, giving up seven goals against three saves in 46:22 before Will Hughes came in for the final 43:38. The latter surrendered three scores while making a solid six saves.
 
For the Lakers, it would be easier to say who did not score with a program record 10 goals. Leading that group of six different goal scorers was King with three on the night, along with an assist, followed closely by Blackstock and Kay with a pair apiece.
 
Perez, Atkinson and Crimmins rounded out the goal scorers while Rodgers and Knight each posted their first assists of their careers. Naranjo, Gutierrez and Turunen each added an assist.
 
In net junior goalkeeper Theo Blachon (St. Etienne, France) would have a quiet evening as he needed to make only one save in the 10-0 victory. He improves to 3-0 on the season and lowers his goals against average to a sterling 0.33 with is second consecutive shutout.
 
Clayton State continues their two game road trip as they head south to Florida to take on a usually very strong Tampa (0-1) team. They will face the Spartans at 6 p.m. on Saturday, September 14 in Tampa.
 
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
9/13/13 – 8-0 vs. Pfeiffer
10/16/07 – 8-1 vs. North Greenville
 
NOTES
King last recorded a hat trick at North Georgia on October 26, 2016 … the 3-0 start is only the sixth in program history, with the 2000 and 2010 squads winning their first eight … the 2002 team won their first seven, the first team in 1992 their first four (including the first game in program history against then Central Wesleyan) and the 2011 team their first three … in three games King has six goals, now halfway to his 2016 total of 12 that took 17 games … the seven first half goals was one shy of tying the PBC record of eight goals in a half by Augusta against Southern Virginia on September 20, 1997.