Freshmen Hugo Luengo and Alejandro Contrera found the back of the net in the final 26 minutes to rally the Georgia Gwinnett College men's soccer team to a 2-1 season-opening victory over SCAD Savannah (Georgia) on Saturday evening in Hardeeville, South Carolina.

Twelve of GGC's 17 players were making their Grizzly debuts. The team improves to 11-0-2 all-time in season openers.

After battling to an evenly played first half, SCAD Savannah (0-1-0) struck first in the 47th minute on an unassisted goal by Raffael Mohr. GGC (1-0-0) outshot the Bees 7-6 across the opening 45 minutes.

Trailing 1-0, the visitors turned up the pressure by attempting 11 second-half shots. Luengo squared the match, at 1-1, in the 64th minute after scoring from a corner kick from freshman Nic Peranitsch.

Ten minutes later, Contrera's goal gave the Grizzlies a 2-1 advantage after getting behind the defense following a long pass by freshman Josefa Simao.

GGC controlled the statistics on Saturday, outshooting the Bees 18-8 and having an 8-3 advantage in shots on goal. The visitors also registered five of the seven corner kicks in the match. Contrera led the effort with five shots.

Eight different Grizzlies attempted a shot in the victory. Freshman Evan Alvarez added three shots, while junior Toufik Najem and freshmen Juan Hermenegildo, Luengo and Peranitsch each had two shots.

Junior goalkeeper Dagoberto Romero recorded two saves and picked up the victory in his GGC debut.

The Grizzlies are opening the 2024 season by playing their first three matches on the road.
  "Our energy was lifted after allowing the goal. Credit to the guys on the bench for helping lift our play. We made some adjustments and applied good pressure in the second half. This team has a lot of fight," said Head Coach Steve DeCou.
  After surrendering an early second-half goal, the Grizzlies responded with a pair of goals in the final 26 minutes of the match. Freshmen Hugo Luengo and Alejandro Contrera found the back of the net for the first time in their collegiate careers with Contrera netting the game winner in the 74th minute.
  47' – Raffael Mohr, SCAD (unassisted)
64' – Hugo Luengo, GGC (Nic Peranitsch)
74' – Alejandro Contrera, GGC (Josefa Simao)
 

• The Grizzlies outshot SCAD Savannah by an 18-8 margin, including an 11-2 edge during the second half
• Freshman Alejandro Contrera registered a match-high five shots
• Twelve of GGC's 17 players made their debut for the Grizzlies
• Eight different players attempted a shot in Saturday's road win

• GGC and SCAD Savannah opened the 2024 season on Saturday
• The Grizzlies are opening the season with three road matches
• Georgia Gwinnett College has a 6-1-1 lead in the series history with the Bees, including a 3-0-1 mark away from Lawrenceville
• The team has won all six season openers on the road in program history and stands 11-0-2 all-time in the first match of a season

Georgia Gwinnett College is scheduled to play Columbia International University (South Carolina) in the opener of the Dalton Classic on Thursday, August 22, at Dalton State College in Dalton, Georgia, starting at 5 p.m.