GREENWOOD – The No. 12 Lander men's soccer team earned the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Peach Belt Conference tournament and its 11th regular season title with a 3-3 tie against Clayton State Monday afternoon at Van Taylor Stadium due in part from a hat trick from Marco Gueli.

Lander and Clayton State played the remaining 24:09 in a contest originally scheduled for October 12.

Lander moves to 9-3-5 overall and 8-1-3 in the PBC while Clayton State moves to 9-4-4 overall and 7-3-2 in the PBC.

This is the first regular season title since 2020 for the Bearcats and the fourth under the direction of Lee Squires.

The Lakers were the first to strike, as the visitors took a 1-0 lead in the 19th minute of play.

The Bearcats would strike back in the 29th minute of action. With the ball in the Lakers' zone, Charlie Bushby pressured a CSU player to play the ball back to his defender where it was intercepted by Marco Gueli who slid a shot to the bottom right of the goal to bring the Bearcat's even 1-1.
Gueli would score his second goal of the game in the 35th minute to give Lander a 2-1 lead. Alistair Danjon would start the play with a long pass that was headed by Max McNulty to Gueli who snuck a shot to the short side of the net.
Clayton State would bring the game even once more, as the Lakers scored in the 41st minute to make it a 2-2 contest.

Both the Bearcats and Lakers were busy in the offensive zone. Lander attempted 10 shots in the first half while Clayton State attempted eight.

CSU would be the first to find the back of the net in the second half as the Lakers struck in the 58th minute to take a 3-2 edge.

Rain and lightning would cause the contest to be halted with 24:09 remaining.

Continuing the contest with 24:09 remaining, the Bearcats began attacking from the opening whistle. 

The score would change as Marco Gueli received a long pass from Harry Bircumshaw before floating a brilliant shot over the Clayton State keeper to tie the match 3-3 in the 82nd minute of play. Lander finished the match with 17 shots attempted and eight going on target. The Lakers attempted 13 shots with eight shots going on goal as well.

Lorenzo Ferrari made five saves against the Lakers and moves to  6-1-3 this season.

Lander will serve as the host site for one round of the PBC Tournament Quarterfinals. That quarterfinals match will feature the No.4 seed and the No. 5 seed. Flagler, who is the No. 2 seed, will host the other quarterfinal match. The Bearcats will be in action next on October 30 when it plays in the PBC Semifinals.

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