A perfect play from a senior, junior and sophomore resulted in the only goal as the Georgia Gwinnett College men's soccer team broke a two-match losing streak with a hard-fought 1-0 home victory against Cumberland University (Tenn.) on Saturday evening at the Grizzly Soccer Complex.
Senior
Herb Sevilla provided the offensive heroics two minutes into the second half after receiving a crossing pass from junior
Sagi Hirsch, who was wide open inside the right post. He put the ball into the net for the goal. Sophomore
Toni Tiente started the scoring play with a pass to the left side of the field.
From there, the Grizzlies (4-4-1) recorded their third shutout of the season as the Phoenix attempted five shots in the second half. Sophomore goalkeeper
Matija Gligorovic made a critical save in the closing seconds off a shot from Cumberland's Kevin Pierce.
Both teams attempted nine shots in the match with GGC tallying eight shots in the first half.
Coach's Corner
"We did what he had to do to get the win. It was a good defensive effort, with a clean sheet (on the scoreboard). Everybody was totally committed in to our game plan. The winning goal came from a great ball from Sagi and Herb's quality finish. Then we withstood (Cumberland's) run at the finish. We did a good job of preventing their shots and Matija made a great save," said Head Coach
Steve DeCou.
Turning Point
In the opening minutes of the second half, the Grizzlies threatened to score the first goal of the match. Sophomore
Toni Tiente sent a pass to junior
Sagi Hirsch in the left corner. Hirsch proceeded to send a crossing pass to a wide open senior
Herb Sevilla on the far post. He finished off the play with a volley into the open net. It was GGC's only shot on goal in the second half and lone goal across 90 minutes of competitive action.
Goals
47' –
Herb Sevilla, GGC (
Sagi Hirsch,
Toni Tiente)
Inside The Numbers
- Both teams attempted nine shots in the match
- The winning goal came on GGC's lone shot in the second half
- Senior Herb Sevilla and sophomore Alex Rivera each attempted two shots
- Sophomore goalkeeper Matija Gligorovic made three saves in picking up the third shutout of the season
News & Notes
- GGC improves to 4-4-1 on the season; Cumberland falls to 1-4-2 this fall
- The Grizzlies were ranked No. 25 in this week's NAIA Top 25 poll
- Georgia Gwinnett College leads the all-time series 3-0-1
- The team was playing its first home match since Sept. 3
Up Next
Georgia Gwinnett College travels to Bryan College on Tuesday, Oct. 9, at 7 p.m. from Dayton, Tenn.
