Box Score ATHENS, Tenn. – Martin Toribio's late first half strike would be all the Georgia Gwinnett men's soccer team would need on Tuesday evening as the Grizzlies picked up a 1-0 victory at Tennessee Wesleyan.
"I'm pretty pleased to come out and see the team get a clean sheet on the road against a difficult opponent," GGC head coach Steve DeCou said. "We had a lot of guys who hadn't played as much this season step up and help us today. There were good performances all around, and I'm really proud of how the team got it done."
Perhaps as one would expect from the Grizzlies this season, Toribio's goal was the byproduct of a set piece. GGC has proven dangerous from such situations all year, and Tuesday was no different as a 39th-minute foul from TWC's Nduka Kemjika presented the opportunity. From there, Ellis Husband stepped up to take the free kick, finding Toribio, who sent it into the net to give the Green and Gray the lead.
Toribio, a junior out of Xativa, Spain, has now scored four goals this season, which ranks second on the team.
The win marked the fourth true road victory in five attempts for the Grizzlies this year, and the team now sits at 8-4-3 with just two matches remaining in the regular season. Meanwhile, TWC saw its regular season come to an end on Tuesday as they finish with an 8-8-1 record.
GGC ended the night with 14 shots, including four on goal, while TWC took 11 with Lewis Sharpe saving all four on-frame attempts to preserve his first shutout since a 1-0 win at Goshen on Sept. 5.
"We've played a pretty good schedule this season, but it's fair to say we haven't been as strong defensively as we have in years past," DeCou said. "Today was a different story. Both Ellis and Andrew White played very well, and Junior Ametepe probably had his best-ever game for us. We also needed Jon Conner to fill in at right back in a pinch, and he did well too. Lewis may get the clean sheet, but I'm really pleased with how the group as a whole performed."
The Grizzlies will return to action later this week with Senior Day on Saturday at 1 p.m. GGC is set to host SCAD Savannah in the final regular season home match of the year, and prior to the meeting, the team will pay tribute to Martin Lugo, who is the first four-year player in school history.
NOTES: GGC is 13-1 all-time vs. schools from the state of Tennessee … The Grizzlies are 4-0-1 this season in true road matches and 5-2-1 when playing outside Lawrenceville … GGC is 8-0-1 all-time following a loss and 3-0-1 after dropping a match this season … The Grizzlies are 17-3-1 all-time in the month of October.
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