Georgia Gwinnett College junior Aleksandar Rajkovic scored with two seconds remaining in the second overtime period to send the top-seeded Grizzlies to the 2022 NAIA Men's Soccer National Championship final site.

Rajkovic's heroics capped a hard-fought NAIA Second Round match to edge No. 2-seed Columbia College (Missouri) 2-1 following 110 minutes of action in the Lawrenceville Bracket match at the Grizzly Soccer Complex.

GGC (14-2-2 and ranked No. 5 nationally) advances to the NAIA National Championship final site for the fourth time in program history and first since the 2019 season. The team will be among the 10 finalists competing for the national title in Decatur, Alabama, when play begins on November 29.

The Grizzlies capitalized on a foul assessed against Columbia with six seconds left in the second overtime session. Junior Khaled Qasum took the free kick from 25 yards from the Cougars' goal. The ball bounced off the wall of Columbia defenders and was found by senior Gianmaria Fiore at the top of the 18-yard box. Fiore's left foot shot redirected off another Columbia defender into the direction of Rajkovic, who was in front of the goal.

The junior midfielder quickly got a shot past goalkeeper Liam Gibbs with two seconds remaining in the match.

"It was a wild sequence at the end of the match. I saw Gianmaria shoot the ball and then it ended up on my foot. I took a quick touch toward the goal and knew that I hit it well toward the net. It seemed like the ball took forever to roll across the line. It was an unreal feeling," said Rajkovic.

The Grizzlies made their only shot of the first half count as senior Karim Tmimi buried a shot from the penalty kick spot in front of the Columbia goal into the lower left corner of the net to give the hosts a 1-0 lead in the 34th minute. It was Tmimi's team-leading 18th goal of the season.

However, Columbia (15-4-3) came back to tie the match, 1-1, off a free kick by Erik Rajoy in the 65th minute. His shot from 25 yards out eluded GGC freshman goalkeeper Andreas von Muecke. The Cougars registered 11 of their 19 shots in the second half.

"This is what national tournament soccer is all about. These two teams were not going to concede an inch. We scored a good goal in the first half and they answered on a good strike off a free kick in the second. I'm so proud of the effort everyone put into today's victory. We earned it," said Head Coach Steve DeCou.

Columbia outshot GGC by a 19-9 margin and recorded 16 corner kicks across the 110 minutes of action. GGC goalkeeper von Muecke registered six of his 10 saves in the second half.

Tmimi led GGC's offensive attack with three shots on Saturday.


  "The ball bounced our way today. These guys haven't stopped fighting all season long and they battled to the very end once again today. I'm still in disbelief at what happened. I had a great view of the ball rolling into the goal. I was thinking we are six seconds away from going into penalty kicks and looking ahead to deciding our five kickers. I can't wait to get to the (NAIA National Championship) final site," said Head Coach Steve DeCou.
 

  Frantic action in front of the Columbia goal off a free kick put junior midfielder Aleksandar Rajkovic in position to score the match-winning goal with two seconds remaining. The play started 25 yards from the Cougars' goal with six seconds left in the second overtime session. The free kick by junior Khaled Qasum bounced off the wall of Columbia defenders and was found by senior Gianmaria Fiore at the top of the 18-yard box. His left foot shot redirected off another opposing defender in front of the goal, where Rajkovic was there to strike the ball into the back of the net. 34' – Karim Tmimi, GGC (unassisted)
65' – Erik Rajoy, CC (unassisted)
110' – Aleksandar Rajkovic, GGC (unassisted)
 

• Columbia outshot the Grizzlies by a 19-9 margin, including an 11-4 edge in shots on goal
• The Cougars attempted 16 corner kicks in the match
• Freshman goalkeeper Andreas von Muecke made 10 saves, including six saves in the second half
• Senior Karim Tmimi scored his 18th goal of the season and led the team with three shots in the match

• GGC improves to 14-2-2 on the season, while Columbia ends the season with a 15-4-3 record
• Georgia Gwinnett College is the No. 1 seed in the Lawrenceville Bracket of the 2022 NAIA First & Second Round; Columbia stood as the No. 2 seed
• The Grizzlies were ranked No. 5 in the final NAIA Top 25 poll of the regular season; Columbia was ranked No. 15 in the same poll
• Saturday's match marked the first meeting between the two colleges
• Georgia Gwinnett College has now advanced to four NAIA National Championship final sites in program history (2022, 2019, 2018, and 2017)

Georgia Gwinnett College advances to the NAIA National Championship final site in Decatur, Alabama, scheduled to face No. 4 seed Bethel University (Indiana) in the quarterfinals on December 1, starting at 10 a.m. central time.