A late rally by the No. 8-ranked Georgia Gwinnett College men's soccer team fell short in a 2-1 loss to West Virginia Tech Sunday afternoon in the culmination of the Labor Day Grizzly Classic at the Grizzly Soccer Complex.
The visiting Golden Bears (1-1-1), which received votes in the NAIA Top 25 preseason poll, broke a scoreless duel by netting two goals early in the second half.
Vasco Berardo placed a shot into the upper left corner of the goal from 15 yards away in the 50th minute. Then, Layomi Ogunfowora converted a penalty kick in the 67th minute to extend the lead to 2-0.
GGC started its comeback three minutes later when senior
Emanuele Sordi stole the ball from opposing goalkeeper Luka Felix and proceeded to score into an empty net. The tally marked Sordi's fourth of the season.
Earlier in the second half, the Grizzlies nearly squared the match, at 1-1, when Felix made an initial save on a shot from senior
Diego Milessi. Sordi pounced on the rebound, but his follow-up shot was deflected wide by Golden Bear defender during the 58th minute.
The hosts then almost got the equalizer, hoping it 2-2, in the 73rd minute when a shot by senior
Odin Solheim was stopped by Felix.
The Grizzlies (2-1-1) outshot West Virginia Tech by a 10-7 margin, highlighted by seven shots on goal. Six of the team's nine corner kicks came in the first half.
The Grizzlies put seven of their 10 shots on goal, but only could manage one tally during the 90-minute match. The hosts nearly got on the scoreboard in the 58th minute when an initial shot by senior
Diego Milessi was saved by the keeper. The rebound went right to senior
Emanuele Sordi and his shot was saved by a Golden Bear defender. Senior
Odin Solheim nearly squared the match, at 2-2, in the 73rd minute when a shot from close distance was saved by West Virginia Tech goalkeeper Luka Felix.
50' – Vasco Berardo, WVT (Marc Hernandez)
67' – Layomi Ogunfowora, WVT (Penalty kick)
70' –
Emanuele Sordi, GGC (unassisted)
- The Grizzlies outshot West Virginia Tech by a 10-7 margin, with seven shots being on goal
- GGC attempted nine corner kicks in the match
- Three different Grizzlies had two shot attempts
- West Virginia Tech was called for 18 fouls across the 90 minutes of action
- GGC falls to 2-1-1 in 2023; West Virginia Tech improves to 1-1-1 on the season
- The Grizzlies were ranked No. 8 in the NAIA Top 25 preseason poll; West Virginia Tech received votes in the same poll
- West Virginia Tech leads the series 2-1, with all of wins coming by the visiting team
- Senior Emanuele Sordi scored his team-leading fourth goal of the season
Georgia Gwinnett College is scheduled to travel to Southeastern University (Florida) on Thursday, September 7, at Lakeland, Florida, starting at 7 p.m.
