MORROW, Ga. – Taking on a team that qualified for the postseason a year ago, Clayton State (1-0, 0-0 PBC) got 2019 off on the right foot as they battled Anderson (0-1, 0-0 SAC) tooth-and-nail before pulling out a hard fought 2-1 victory in an NCAA Division II men's soccer game on Thursday, September 5.
 
While both teams were active in the first half, the majority of the opening 45 minutes would be played in the midfield with AU notching five shots to the Lakers four. That scoreless deadlock wouldn't last long into the second half however.
 
With just over three minutes gone by, redshirt-sophomore Cody Crimmins (McDonough, Ga.) would loft a corner towards the front of the goal mouth. After caroming off of a player from each team contending for it, redshirt-senior Ryan King (County Durham, England) got hold of it and drilled it to the back of the net for a 1-0 lead at the 48:21 mark.
 
That lead would be about as brief as it could be though as the Trojans answered right back at the other end. Harry Ward took a ball on the far left side and proceeded to drive it high into the air and over the outstretched hands of the keeper for the equalizer with 50:46 gone by, less than three minutes later.
 
After an entire half of no scoring, all of the game's scoring would be bottled up in just over a six minute stretch. A foul in the box, again less than three minutes later, at the other end would put Anderson in an untenable situation. Awarded a penalty kick, King would step up for the Lakers. His drive to the right would be stopped by the keeper but to add insult to injury, the ball caromed right back to King and he would not miss this time, driving it home for a 2-1 lead at the 54:24 mark.
 
The Trojans came right back down the field and forced a save on a shot by Ward, which would be one of seven from that point on. They would put two more on net that would require a save by junior Theo Blachon (St. Etienne, France), including in the 85^th minute, but would not be able to break through as Clayton State held on for the narrow 2-1 victory.
 
Ward would lead Anderson with their only goal as he fired off four shots, three of which would be on net. Conor Kigallon would notch four shots, all on goal, to round out the offense for the Trojans. Gal Elyashiv would play all 90 minutes for AU, recording six saves against a pair of goals allowed to drop to 1-0.
 
King would be the leader for the Lakers with his two scores in his return after two years away while Crimmins would pick up the lone assist. Just as impressive on the defensive side was Blachon, who played all 90 minutes, made seven saves and allowed just the one score to a very good team in his first Division II action. He improves to 1-0 on the young season.
 
The Lakers are right back in action as they stay at home to face Erskine on Saturday, September 7. Game time is set for 6 p.m. at Laker Field.
 
NOTES
Clayton State is a perfect 9-0 against Anderson dating back to the first meeting on September 12, 1997 … the game was the first meeting between the teams since September 5, 2015, which was also a 2-1 Laker victory in Morrow.
 
FULL GAME VIDEO