Six different players scored a goal as the No. 6-ranked Georgia Gwinnett College men's soccer team closed out the regular season with a 6-0 victory against Washington Adventist University (Maryland) on Wednesday afternoon on a neutral site field at the OrthoCarolina Sportsplex in Pineville, North Carolina.
The Grizzlies (12-1-2) scored four of their six goals during the second half.
Senior
Karim Tmimi tallied his 17th goal of the season and provided an assist on another tally in the first half. He scored his sixth game-winning goal of the season from close distance after receiving a crossing pass from sophomore
Jason Strambu in the 17th minute. Tmimi then provided a pass on a goal by junior
Odin Solheim in the 34th minute.
Tmimi scored a point in every match during the regular season to have 17 goals and nine assists to total 43 points.
In the second half, header goals by juniors
James Forster and
Aleksandar Rajkovic in rapid-fire fashion gave the Grizzlies a 4-0 advantage. Junior
Augustin Lepoutre delivered crossing passes from the left side for both goals in the 57th and 58th minutes of the match.
Junior
Milton Alfaro scored his first goal of the season off a rebound in the 81st minute. Sophomore
Jack Brown capped the day's scoring by converting a one-on-one scoring opportunity in the 85th minute. It was his second goal of the season.
The Grizzlies outshot Washington Adventist (6-8-2) by a commanding 27-1 margin. Solheim led the team with four shots while freshman
Sam Povolotsky and Rajkovic each tallied three shots.
Freshman goalkeeper
Andreas von Muecke recorded the match's only save during the first half in 71 minutes of action, while sophomore
Sebastian Farias closed out the shutout in front of the team's net for the final 19 minutes.
"There was more space in the attacking third as the match progressed and we were able to capitalize on more chances. We kept playing our game. Having six different goal scorers showcases our depth and the number of players capable of scoring goals for us," said Head Coach
Steve DeCou.
The Grizzlies scored four goals in the second half – helping the team achieve six or more goals for the fourth match this season. Junior
Augustin Lepoutre delivered two beautiful crossing passes less than two minutes apart. Classmates
James Forster and
Aleksandar Rajkovic converted the plays with header goals to give GGC a 4-0 lead and double the halftime lead by the 58th minute of the second half.
17' –
Karim Tmimi, GGC (
Jason Strambu)
34' –
Odin Solheim, GGC (
Karim Tmimi,
Juan Cruz Parisi Sitjar)
57' –
James Forster, GGC (
Augustin Lepoutre)
58' –
Aleksandar Rajkovic, GGC (
Augustin Lepoutre,
Antoine Ferez)
81' –
Milton Alfaro, GGC (
Patrick Gawliczek Rodriguez)
85' –
Jack Brown, GGC (
Aidan Colquitt)
- The Grizzlies held a 27-1 shot advantage in the match
- GGC recorded nine corner kicks
- Twenty-three different players appeared in the match for the Grizzlies
- Junior Odin Solheim attempted a match-high four shots
- GGC improves to 12-1-2 on the season, while Washington Adventist drops to 6-8-2 in 2022
- Georgia Gwinnett College was ranked No. 6 in this week's NAIA Top 25 poll, announced on Wednesday, November 2, by the NAIA national office
- The Grizzlies have won both meetings in the series between the two colleges
- GGC has scored 54 goals this season to stand second most in a season in program history
Georgia Gwinnett College hosts the 2022 Continental Athletic Conference Soccer Championship Tournament with a semifinal match on Friday, November 11, from the Grizzly Soccer Complex. The bracket matchups will be announced soon by the CAC office.
