Box Score Nov. 15, 2013
Box Score
GGC 2, Cal State San Marcos 1
Senior Rene Enang and sophomore Essie Aburime each scored as the Georgia Gwinnett men’s soccer team outlasted Cal State San Marcos in the Grizzlies’ first-ever postseason appearance Friday afternoon with an electric 2-1 semifinal victory on the opening day of the Association of Independent Institutions championship tournament in Lawrenceville.
After a scoreless first half, the third-seeded Grizzlies (14-4) built a 2-0 advantage before holding off a late charge from the second-seeded Cougars (10-5-2).
Georgia Gwinnett advances to face NAIA No. 3 and tournament top seed Ashford University (Iowa) on Saturday at the Grizzly Soccer Complex at 4 p.m. ET. The Saints defeated fourth-seeded Lindenwood-Belleville by a 6-1 margin in Thursday’s other semifinal.
The Grizzlies built a 9-3 shot advantage in the first half against CSUSM and created several quality scoring opportunities, but the game remained scoreless into the half.
After the break, GGC pushed until finally opening the scoring in the 64th minute. German Rodriguez played a ball through to Enang, who boxed out his defender, turned on goal and fired it past Cougars goalkeeper Zach Sheppard for a 1-0 GGC lead.
The Grizzlies added to their advantage 15 minutes later, tallying the eventual game-winner as Enang connected with Aburime in space in the CSUSM box. The sophomore found the back of the net as GGC took a two-goal lead.
Aburime’s score proved vital as just over a minute later, the Cougars climbed onto the board by capitalizing on a free kick opportunity on the attacking end. Dustin Scibilia won a battle in traffic and headed it in to cut the GGC lead to 2-1 in the 80th minute.
The Grizzlies held tough over the final 10 minutes, turning aside several Cougar attacks and winning possession for much of the final time remaining.
Freshman Lewis Sharpe made three saves in goal for the Grizzlies, who have won seven consecutive games.
GGC now faces Ashford on Saturday with an automatic berth to the NAIA national tournament at stake.
Ashford 6, Lindenwood-Belleville 1
Top-seeded and NAIA No. 3 Ashford University (13-3-1) used a six-goal second half outburst to roll past fourth-seeded Lindenwood University Belleville in the opening game of the tournament Friday morning, 6-1.
The teams went scoreless into halftime as neither could convert on a wet track, but the scoreboard lit up early and often in the second half.
Luiz Mota opened the scoring in the 49th minute on a header for a 1-0 Ashford lead.
The Lynx (12-6-2) tied the game just one minute later, when Patrick Reilly sailed in a free kick from just shy of midfield.
Back-to-back goals by Ashford’s Daniel Dreier lifted the Saints to a 3-1 advantage, and Ashford tallied three more scores over the game’s final 10 minutes to cruise to the 6-1 win.
Scott Lennon, Murilo Ceruli and Tim Krautheim all got on the board for the Saints, who advance to Saturday’s championship game against host Georgia Gwinnett at 4 p.m. ET in Lawrenceville.
Johannes Langhans had two assists for the Saints.
