MORROW, Ga. – A physical second half challenged the UNCP men's soccer team to be more aggressive on offense which benefitted the Braves as defender Michael Davis headed the ball into the back of the goal to deliver the victory over Clayton State on Saturday evening at Laker Field.

Davis gave UNCP (9-3-1, 2-2-1 PBC) the 2-1 lead in the 75th minute on assist by Sam Miles. The victory snapped a seven-game losing streak in the series with the Lakers (8-5-0, 3-3-0), which puts the Braves two points behind Clayton State in the Peach Belt Conference standings.

Clayton State started the first half on the offense by capturing five shots before UNCP was able to register its first shot. Janny Rivera put the Lakers on the scoreboard first on a penalty kick at the 32:21 mark which was the result of a yellow card on defender Stuart Rodgers. The Braves were only down a point for 28 seconds until Sam Miles collected his 12th goal of the season on the assist by Payne Clark to tie the game up at 1-1 going into half time.

Despite the victory, Clayton State outshot UNCP by ten shots along with each team tallying 13 fouls. Goalkeeper Ryan Hanson posted six saves in his 90 minutes of action between the posts, while Davis led the team with two shots as five other Braves tallied one shot.

Clayton State's Arturo Cruz posted a team-high five shots while Jonathan Ray totaled three. Lakers netminder Brian Garcia collected two saves during the game. 

The Black and Gold will compete in a conference road tilt with Montevallo (8-3-3, 4-1-1) on Saturday at Varsity Field in Montevallo, Ala., and is slated to begin at 4:30 p.m.