The Georgia Gwinnett men's soccer team opened the 2016 season on Friday with a 0-0 draw against St. Thomas (Fla.).  The match, which was delayed an hour during stormy weather at the intermission, was a toe-to-toe fight between the Grizzlies and Bobcats.

While the contest ended in a draw, two career marks were set for GGC's senior goalkeeper Lewis Sharpe.  The Englishman broke the 200 career saves mark in the early minutes of the second half, finishing the contest with seven snags.  Heading into the match, Sharpe set at 195 saves and 4,967 logged minutes in goal for the Grizzlies.  At the buzzer, Sharpe broke the 5,000 minutes barrier, playing all 110 minutes of Friday's contest, and finished the night with 202 career saves.



"I'm proud of Lewis' individual accomplish.  It's a testament to his longevity, commitment, and leadership on the field," stated GGC head coach Steve DeCou.  "We had several opportunities and chances tonight and just didn't take advantage of them."

The Grizzlies (0-0-1) outshot St. Thomas 17-11 in the double overtime draw, placing seven of the shots on frame.  GGC also outpaced the Bobcats in the battle over corners, 9-3.

"Offensively, we controlled the ball," reflected DeCou.  "The guys made great runs and had three great shots late, including the back-to-back tries by Callum [Lees] and Jumar [Oakley] in the final minutes of regulation.  Our defense bailed us out of our mental miscues and kept us in the battle."

DeCou continued, "We are disappointed with tonight's outcome, and, honestly, it feels like a loss.  Thankfully, we have a quick turnaround tomorrow.  Our guys are shaping into a unit, and tonight, we just made too many mental errors and were offside more than we should have been."

Georgia Gwinnett wraps up the Grizzly Classic on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. when it hosts Life University (Ga.).  On Friday, Life dropped its second game of the season to Middle Georgia State with a 2-0 decision in the Grizzly Classic opener.

Game Day Central:

Video coverage:
http://www.grizzlyathletics.com/GDN.php

Live stat links:
http://bit.ly/2b98cIr

Tickets for Saturday's contests are $5 for adults, $3 for youth, seniors, and military, and free for children under five.  All members of the GGC community receive free admission with their Claw Card.  Season ticket packages are also on sale for all regular season contests.  For more information on ticketing, click here. Free game day parking is available in the deck at the entrance to the GGC campus.

For all the latest on Grizzly Athletics, including news, scores, and features, visit GrizzlyAthletics.com.  Check out all the latest Grizzly Men's Soccer content and join the conversation by using @GGC_MSoccer on Twitter.