Men's Soccer | November 30, 2024
GAFFNEY, S.C. – The Clayton State University men's soccer team (12-3-4) are set to play in the Sweet 16 of the 2024 NCAA DII Men's Soccer Championship on Sunday against the top-seeded Limestone University Saints (15-1-3) at 3 p.m. The Lakers are seeking revenge over Limestone after they bounced the Lakers out of last season's NCAA Tournament. The winner of this game will take on the winner of Lynn vs. Coker on Saturday, December 7
th in the Elite Eight.
OVERALL HISTORY
The Saints have won the last four match ups against Clayton State outscoring them 16-2. The Lakers have not beaten Limestone since 2013 and have never beaten the Saints in Gaffney. This is the second overall postseason match up between the two schools with Limestone getting the upper hand, 2-0, over Clayton State last season.
THE BOOK ON LIMESTONE
The Saints advanced to the Sweet 16 after a convincing 4-1 over Mars Hill on November 24
th. Limestone earned a share of the South Atlantic Conference (SAC) Regular Season championship as they tied with Coker for the top spot. They went onto defeat Lenoir-Rhyne in the SAC Championship game to earn an AQ in the National Tournament. The Saints are led by their six D2CCA All-Region stars Mark Radoki, Hugo Vien, Stefan Roeb. Claudel N'Goubou, Falk Jorch, and goalkeeper Nikolaj Bertelsen.
IMPACT PLAYERS CLAYTON STATE
The Lakers are led by their own D2CCA All-Region selections
Alex Rodriguez,
Alexis Iturria, and
Mauricio Uribe. Rodriguez assisted on the lone goal in the PK shootout win over Converse in the Round of 32 game last Sunday. Overall, Alex tallied a PBC-best nine goals and notched seven assists. The Lakers will look for Rodriguez to get hot down the stretch if they want to advance to their first Elite Eight since 2010.
The Lakers are also led by
Alexis Iturria. Iturria scored the only Laker goal in the PK Shootout against Converse with 17.7 seconds left. This season, Iturria notched a team and conference best 13 assists and added seven goals. Alexis also leads the team with 61 shots. Also on the attacking side, in addition to Alexis, Coach
Pete Petersen will also look to
Fallah Johnson, who scored seven goals this season, and
Vic Delgado Miller to really step up. As a defensive unit, the Saints have only conceded 11 goals which totals out to just over a half of a goal per match.
On the defensive side, the Lakers are led by keeper
Mauricio Uribe. Uribe made seven saves and only conceded a goal in the Round of 32 match against Converse. Over the course of the season, Mauricio has pitched six shutouts and picked up 11 wins in net. His .80 goals against average are among the best in the nation, region, and conference. He is going to be tested as Limestone has scored 2.67 goals a game this season. The Lakers will also look to
Jussi Gerberding,
Othmane Chagour, and
Erick Ferreira Rodriguez to protect Uribe from the Saint attack.
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