Men's Soccer | September 3, 2025

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The #5 Clayton State University men's soccer team opens its 2025 regular season on Thursday evening down in Florida.  The Lakers are looking for a successful start to their season. 
 
MATCH INFORMATION
Thursday, September 4^th

• Match: Clayton State at Nova Southeastern
• Match Time: 7:30 p.m.
• Live Stats | Video

 
Saturday, September 6^th

• Match: Clayton State at Barry
• Match Time: 7:30 p.m.
• Live Stats | Video

 
TAKE A LOOK BACK
The Lakers had a historic 2024 season as they reached the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2010.  They finished with an overall record of 13-4-4 (8-1-1 PBC) and earned the 2024 PBC Regular Season Championship for the second straight season.  The Lakers then entered the NCAA Tournament defeating Converse in penalty kicks and Limestone, 2-1, in overtime.  The Lakers hope to duplicate their successful campaign into 2025. 
 
THE BOOK ON NOVA SOUTHEASTERN
The Sharks finished the 2024 season, 7-5-3, and fell in the Quarterfinals of the Sunshine State Conference Tournament.  This is only the third time these two teams have played each other, and the Lakers got the best of the Sharks, 1-0, on August 27^th, 2009.  Markus Rokseth returns as the top scorer for Nova Southeastern, knocking in five goals last season.  As a team, the Sharks only scored 24 goals all last season.  Returning in goal is Nikolas Ricardo who played in 14 matches and made 45 saves. 
 
BOOK ON BARRY
The Buccaneers finished last season with an overall record of 6-9-3 but saw their season come to an end in the Sunshine States Conference Tournament falling to Rollins, 2-1. The Lakers and Buccaneers have five all-time meetings with each team winning two games with one draw.  The last time these two teams played was September 3^rd, 2016, where Barry pushed through, 5-4.  Barry returns its second leading scorer from last year with Stefan Momcilovic.  Stefan scored four goals.  Linus Wirth leads the Buccaneers in goal as he played in seven matches and made 18 saves. 
 
IMPACTFUL LAKER RETURNERS
Coach Petersen returns a ton of talent from last season's team in Othmane Chagour, Camilo Velez, Miguel Torrecillas, and Andree Jimenez.  Chagour, who earned third-team USC All-America honors last season, leads the defensive side of the ball. Othmane also knocked in a pair of goals and assists.  Jimenez also returns on the defensive side of the ball.  Jimenez scored a goal and added three assists.  Last season, the Lakers only surrendered 21 goals and only gave up at least one goal in 16 of 21 matches.   
 
Velez and Torrecillas rounds out the impactful Lakers.  Velez scored a goal and added a pair of assists last season. Torrecillas, like Velez, does not have eye-popping stats but was very instrumental as the Laker offense knocked in 42 goals.  Coach Petersen is going to look for his 13 newcomers to make an immediate impact.  In net, George Roke and Kalle Kuisma are in their first seasons on the Lakers.  With the absence of Maurico Uribe, Coach Petersen is looking to see who can help the Lakers duplicate their strong 2024 season. 
 
Be sure to follow Clayton State Athletics, "South Atlanta's College Team" on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.