2007 Clayton State Men's Soccer Schedule
MORROW, Ga. – May 25, 2007 – Last season, the Clayton State Laker men’s soccer team played arguably one of the toughest schedules in all of NCAA Division II – and still won the Peach Belt Conference regular season championship.

This season, head coach Pete Petersen is not letting up with the 2007 schedule, which was released on Friday. This season, the Lakers will play 13 games within the Southeast Region of Division II, and that includes three teams that advanced to the NCAA Division II National Tournament last season.

“We probably had one of the toughest schedules in the land last season, but there still those who didn’t think we played enough region contests. This even though we still won the conference regular season championship,” said Petersen, who is 35-17-8 in three seasons at Clayton State. “This season we are playing more region games, and against more ranked opponents.”

Clayton State will play 11 home games this season within the friendly confines of Laker Field. It all starts on Aug. 24 with an inter-regional showdown against Tampa at 7:30 p.m. In addition, Clayton State also plays host to the Laker Shootout again on Labor Day weekend – Aug. 31 against Belmont Abbey and Sept. 1 against Anderson.

In addition, the Lakers also play five more non-conference home games. The headliner is Oct. 24 against defending Conference Carolinas champion Limestone, which went 13-3-1 last season in advancing to the “Sweet 16” of the NCAA Division II National Tournament. Also visiting Laker Field are Savannah College of Art and Design and former Laker head coach John Rootes on Sept. 12, plus Tusculum on Sept. 15, area Division III power Emory on Oct. 3 and North Greenville on Oct. 16.

The Clayton State non-conference road slate should be just as challenging. The Lakers are at pesky Lees-McRae on Sept. 6 and Brevard on Sept. 7, plus Erskine on Sept. 19 and NCAA Tournament participant Montevallo on Oct. 9.

Despite the loss of longtime power USC-Upstate to NCAA Division I status, Clayton State still faces a stellar Peach Belt Conference schedule. The key showdowns are road battles at USC-Aiken on Sept. 22, at Georgia Southwestern on Oct. 13, and a possible conference title tilt at NCAA participant Lander on Oct. 20. The Lakers play host to UNC-Pembroke on Sept. 29, North Georgia on Oct. 6 and Francis Marion in the regular season finale on Oct. 27.