MORROW, Ga. – Barry's men's soccer team battled to a 5-4 win over the Clayton State Lakers Saturday night.
The Lakers were first on the scoreboard just 1:13 into the game from a penalty kick goal from former Buccaneer, Ryan King.
Thomas Coombes answered back and evened the game with a penalty kick goal in the 16th minute as he beat the keeper to the bottom right side of the net.
Hanno Antoni gave the Bucs a 2-1 lead in the 18th minute with an assist from midfielder, Jerrell Cato. Cato beat the Laker defender in the 18 yard box and slotted a pass across the six yard line to meet Antoni, who won the footrace with the defender to be able to knock the ball into the back of the net.
Bucs midfielder, Nyle Patel, added to the lead to make it 3-1 in the 28th minute when he collected a loose ball along the right side of the 18 yard box and ripped a shot that cruised to the far left corner of net just past the reach of the Laker keeper, Oliver Pannell.
The Lakers responded with two goals right before the end of the first half to even the score. The first goal was scored in the 40th minute by Ian Smith off a crossed pass from the right side of the six from Shams Elakabawy, where he then headed the ball to the opposite corner of the goal to where Bucs keeper, Michael Scheraldi, was standing. The second goal came in the 42nd minute from King. Smith crossed a lofty ball from midfield to King at the top of the 18, who brought it down and ripped a shot that rang both posts of the goal before rolling into the net to knot the game 3-3.
Coombes took the lead back for the Bucs with his second penalty kick goal of the game just nine minutes into the second half. This was Coombes's third goal in two games. Antoni, who scored earlier in the night, now has three goals in two games as well.
With less than 5 minutes remaining in the second half, Francisco Aguirre scored the game-winning goal for the Bucs to make score 5-3. Aguirre, using his crafty footwork, trickled his way through the Laker defense and tapped the ball with the outside of his right foot past the keeper's reach.
King tried rallying back for the Lakers with a goal in the 87th minute to trim the lead to 5-4. However, the Buccaneer defense managed to hold on to get the win. This was King's third goal of the match to secure the hat-trick. King led the Bucs in assists on the season with six when he played for the team back in 2013.
Despite only making one save out of the five shots recorded on goal by the home team, Scheraldi is credited with the win for the Bucs, and Pennell takes the loss after saving six of the 11 shots that Barry recorded.
The Bucs hit the field again Monday Sept. 5th at 2:00 p.m. against the Emmanuel Lions in Franklin Springs, GA.
