PEMBROKE – Visiting Clayton State scored three times in the second half to break open an otherwise close game as the Lakers took sole possession of first place in the Peach Belt Conference standings with a 3-0 victory over the UNC Pembroke women's soccer team on Saturday at Varsity Grounds.

The setback snapped a three-game winning streak for UNCP (5-2-1, 1-1-0 PBC) who lost to an unranked team for the first time this season. The Lakers (8-1-0, 3-0-0) extended their winning streak out to seven games, while also posting their third-straight win in the series with the Braves.

Freshman Courtney Crump logged a team-best four shots for the hosts, including a pair of on-target strikes, while goalkeeper Janae Aiken collected five saves on defense. The Lakers got goals from three different players, including Lucy Cunningham who registered a game-best seven shots (three on goal) while also adding an assist. Charlotte McCormack grabbed four saves for the visitors en route to registering her fourth clean sheet of the campaign.

A back-and-forth game for much of the first 45 minutes of action, Clayton State took six of the game's first seven shots before a pair of quality strikes by Rae-Shawna Campbell went for naught in the 15th minute. Although heading into the intermission deadlocked in a 0-0 contest, the Lakers posted 11 of the period's 15 shots.

Maria Marti Bartis got the visitors off the mark with a goal in the 48th minute (47:30), and then padded that lead out to a pair of goals on Cunningham's score just more than six minutes later (53:42). Rachael Schmidt would add an insurance goal for the Lakers in the 80th tick (79:22).

UNCP will close out a short two-game stay at home on Wednesday when it laces up to take on PBC nemesis Armstrong State (5-2-0, 1-1-0) in the front half of a 5 p.m. women's and men's soccer doubleheader at Varsity Grounds. The UNCP men will battle Francis Marion in the second half of the twinbill.