Experienced Goalkeepers Challenging for Starts

Deciding upon a starting goalkeeper among two quality and experienced players – each sharing the same first name – is one of the key position battles taking place as the Georgia Gwinnett College women’s soccer team prepares for the upcoming fall season.

And that competition is expected to get ever more intense as the season opener approaches with a home match August 24 against SCAD Savannah (Georgia) at the Grizzly Soccer Complex.

Sophomore Matilda Johansson and junior Matilda Waldt split time between the Grizzlies’ goal posts last fall, with Johansson starting 14 matches and Waldt collecting the other five starts. There were even occasions when the duo played in both halves of a match during the 2021 season.

Johansson enters her third season in the GGC program and is a two-time Continental Athletic Conference all-tournament team selection. She made 46 saves and was in goal for eight of GGC’s 11 triumphs last season – good enough to earn honorable mention all-league honors. A shutout came against Bellevue University (Nebraska) in the CAC championship game. 

Meanwhile, the 2021 season marked the most playing time in Waldt’s career as a Grizzly. She had eight appearances, a 3-1 record and was in front of the net for a 2-0 road triumph against nationally ranked Lindsey Wilson College (Kentucky) last fall.

“Matilda (Waldt) has grown and improved to the point where she is a real threat for Matilda (Johansson) as our No. 1 goalkeeper,” noted Giuliano. “Right now, we don’t know which one of them will be starting and both are familiar with that situation.”

Also entering the preseason position battle is freshman Svenja Hoppe, a talented player from Nuertingen, Germany. 

This all means that the team should have a quality and deep goalkeeping unit this upcoming season.

GGC is striving to improve upon a 2021 season that had an 11-7-1 record and program’s fifth straight trip to the NAIA national tournament.