Goals by seniors Odin Solheim and Emanuele Sordi in the early stages of the second half couldn't help the Georgia Gwinnett College men's soccer team complete a dramatic comeback in a 5-4 loss to Florida National University in Thursday night's semifinal match of the 2023 Continental Athletic Conference Men's Soccer Championship Tournament at the Grizzly Soccer Complex.

After trailing 3-1 at halftime, Solheim began the rally with a goal in the 59th minute. Three minutes later, Sordi successfully converted a penalty kick to square the match, 3-3.

Florida National, the tournament's top seed, regained a two-goal lead when Francisco Crimi and Christian Omar Herna scored goals in the 77th minute and 83rd minute, respectively.

GGC (6-8-4), the No. 4 seed, attempted another frantic rally when junior Rory O'Connor scored in the 83rd minute – 23 seconds after Omar Herna's goal – to trim the Conquistadors' lead to 5-4.

But the tournament hosts couldn't get the tying goal in the final minutes of the match.

Senior Khaled Qasum gave the Grizzlies an early 1-0 advantage when he drilled a shot from 25 yards away into the lower left corner of the FNU goal in the 16th minute.

Florida National (11-2-4) responded with three goals in the first half. Paul Henrique Da Silva Marques squared the match in the 24th minute, followed by Vinicius Mallmann's goal off a free kick in the 42nd minute. Then, Nicolas Martinez found the back of the net with 14 seconds remaining in the first half for a 3-1 edge.

The Conquistadors outshot the Grizzlies by a 16-10 margin in the match.

Florida National advances to the championship match on Saturday, November 11, against No. 2 Bellevue University (Nebraska), starting at 7 p.m.
  "We didn't finish the first half well. The challenge at that point was that we had 45 minutes left in our season to get a positive result. We got the first goal (narrowing the deficit to 3-2) and then the second goal (tying the match 3-3) really caused some problems. That just shows our players' heart and passion. I'm disappointed for our seniors. They went out with heart, class, dignity, and honor and represented the school proudly today," said Head Coach Steve DeCou.
  The Grizzlies had to overcome two-goal deficits on two occasions during the second half. They battled back for a 3-3 tie in the early stages of the period, with seniors Odin Solheim and Emanuele Sordi scoring in the 59th minute and 62nd minute. Then, Florida National moved ahead 5-3 on goals from Francisco Crimi and Christian Omar Herna. That was a margin that GGC couldn't overcome.
  16' – Khaled Qasum, GGC (unassisted)
24' – Paul Henrique Da Silva Marques, FNU (Bautista Dominquez)
42' – Vinicius Mallman, FNU (unassisted)
45' – Nicolas Martinez, FNU (Patricio Amores)
59' – Odin Solheim, GGC (Sam Povolotsky)
62' – Emanuele Sordi, GGC (Penalty kick)
77' – Francisco Crimi, FNU (unassisted)
83' – Christian Omar Hernandez, FNU (unassisted)
83' – Rory O'Connor, GGC (Marco Panaccione)
 

• Florida National outshot the Grizzlies by a 16-10 margin
• The Grizzlies recorded eight corner kicks compared to six corner kicks for Florida National
• Seniors Khaled Qasum, Odin Solheim and Emanuele Sordi each registered two shots across the 90 minutes of action
• Fourteen different players appeared in the match for the Grizzlies

• GGC ended the 2023 season with a 6-8-4 record; Florida National improves to 11-2-4 in 2023
• The Grizzlies stood as the No. 4 seed in the CAC Soccer Championship; Florida National was the No. 1 seed
• The Conquistadors were ranked No. 14 in the final NAIA Top 25 poll of the 2023 season
• GGC is 13-6 all-time in conference tournament play, with nine triumphs coming at home