ROME, Ga. – Facing the highest scoring team in the country, Clayton State (6-1, 0-0 PBC) made it so you couldn't tell as they imposed their will in a 5-0 shutout on the road at Shorter (4-2, 0-0 GSC) in an NCAA Division II men's soccer game on Tuesday, September 24.
 
Defense and offense have been the Lakers forte so far this year and both would be on display all night. Following 20 minutes of scoreless play, sophomore midfielder Jack Stevens (Brisbane, Australia) would take over.
 
Having driven into the offensive end from his midfield position he would hammer one low and hard to the center of the net for a 1-0 lead at the 20:22 mark. It would take 13 minutes but he wouldn't be done either, not by a long shot.
 
In the 34^th minute freshman midfielder Geo Rios (Lawrenceville, Ga.) used his speed to bring the ball up and proceeded to find a sprinting Stevens in the box. Collecting the pass, he knocked it into the low left corner of the goal for a career-high second score, making it 2-0 with 33:47 gone by.
 
Seven minutes later Stevens would show his versatility as he would be the one setting up the Lakers next score. He would deliver the ball to redshirt-freshman midfielder Olavo Guimaraes (Sao Paulo, Brazil) who then tucked it low into the right hand corner for his first career goal at the 40:56 mark. The teams would then head to the break with that 3-0 margin.
 
It took less than five minutes into the second half for that offensive barrage to continue as senior defender Ignacio Perez (Madrid, Spain) set up Clayton State's fourth score of the night. His pass at 49:34 would find the foot of sophomore forward Brad Kay (Manchester, England) who buried it into the back of the net for his fifth goal of the year and a 4-0 lead.
 
Following some more signature defense, the Lakers delivered more signature offense, this time in the 73^rd minute. Kay would pay it forward after notching his goal off a crisp pass earlier in the half as he set up a score by redshirt-sophomore midfielder Cody Crimmins (McDonough, Ga.). That went to the lower left corner at 72:12 to make it 5-0. From there the defense would close out the impressive road victory by that margin.
 
As a team the Hawks put up just five shots with only two on goal. The shots would be spread out over five different players with Zach Wyborn and Bailey Lopez putting one on frame a piece. In net, Javy Flores played 79:52 minutes and surrendered all five goals against just four saves to fall to 0-1 in his first significant action. Juan Cornejo relieved him and played a scoreless 10:08.
 
For Clayton State it was the Jack Stevens show for much of the night as he finished with a pair of goals and an assist while Kay had a goal and an assist off the bench. Guimaraes and Crimmins posted the other scores with Rios and Perez picking up an assist each.
 
In another stellar performance between the pipes, junior goalkeeper Theo Blachon (St. Etienne, France) played all 90 minutes and delivered his fifth shutout in seven games to tie for the NCAA Division II lead. He would need to make just two saves as he and his defense limited Shorter's opportunities, moving to 6-1 in the process.
 
The Lakers continue their season-high three game road swing with the middle game of the set at Auburn-Montgomery on Saturday, September 28. Game time is set for 7 p.m. EST in Montgomery, Alabama.
 
NOTES
Shorter entered the night as the top scoring team in the country, averaging 5.75 goals per game and leading in total goals (23) and points per game (15.75) … also second in both assists per game (4.25), total assists (17) and total points (63) … it is the first time they have been shutout this year … Clayton State came in at sixth in the nation in total goals (18), 10^th in scoring offense (3.0), 11^th in total points (45) and 19^th in points per game (7.5), sixth in the country in goals against average (.361), seventh in save percentage (.923) and 10^th in shutout percentage (.667) ... in an oddity of the schedule, it was a match up of two teams that had registered 10 goal games ... Shorter did so, 10-3, over Trinity Baptist on September 12 while the Lakers blanked Southern Wesleyan 10-0 on September 11.