The No. 15-ranked Georgia Gwinnett College men's soccer team picked up another decisive home victory with a 4-1 triumph against Florida College on Thursday evening to open this weekend's Grizzly Classic at the Grizzly Soccer Complex.
GGC (8-2-3) scored a pair of goals in each half to collect the team's third straight victory, outscoring the opponents by a 14-1 margin in the process.
Sophomore
Josefa Simao gave the hosts an early lead in the 12th minute as he headed in a goal from a crossing pass by freshman
Michael Mallaburn.
Ten minutes later, freshman
Ousmane Fall netted his team-leading ninth goal of the season by redirecting a pass from classmate
Brayan Gomez. That gave the Grizzlies a 2-0 advantage.
Florida College (5-7-1) registered four shots and three corner kicks during the first half, but GGC's defense stood tall to take the two-goal lead into halftime.
However, the Falcons struck in the opening minute of the second half on John Solis' second tally of the season, trimming the deficit to 2-1.
It took just 29 seconds for GGC to have an answer, with another goal by Simao, marking his third of the fall campaign.
"Josefa has always been confident with his defensive play, but he's becoming more of a threat for us on the offensive end. I'm happy that he was rewarded with two goals in this match," said Head Coach
Steve DeCou.
The team continued to apply pressure on its Florida opponent as sophomore
Nic Peranitsch and junior
Pedro Alejandro attempted shots that went just high of the opposing goal in the opening five minutes of the second half.
Then, sophomore
Djordje Djurasinovic finally buried a goal, his sixth of the season, in the 85th minute after a long dribble down the pitch from sophomore
Alejandro Contrera, who collected two assists in the triumph.
The Grizzlies outshot Florida College by a 15-6 margin for the match and had an 8-2 edge during the second half. The team also attempted six corner kicks.
Freshman goalkeeper
Victor Darub stopped two shots while picking up his eighth victory of the season.
GGC has scored a goal in the first half across nine of the team's 10 home matches, accounting for 20 total tallies.
"We're coming into these matches with the right mentality and the guys are executing the gameplan that's set up. It's fun to be scoring goals in the first halves," said DeCou.
Coach's Corner
"Our attacking was excellent. We're trending in the right direction. This result basically secured us being the No. 1 seed for the conference tournament (November 7-11 at GGC). This is a much improved Florida College team," said Head Coach
Steve DeCou.
Turning Point
After Florida College scored in the opening minute of the second half, cutting the deficit to 2-1, the Grizzlies responded 29 seconds later. Sophomore
Josefa Simao scored to once again give GGC a two-goal advantage. It was his second goal of the match.
Goals
12' –
Josefa Simao, GGC (
Michael Mallaburn and
Alejandro Contrera)
22' –
Ousmane Fall, GGC (
Brayan Gomez)
45' – John Solis, FC (Unassisted)
46' –
Josefa Simao, GGC (Unassisted)
85' –
Djordje Djurasinovic, GGC (
Alejandro Contrera)
Inside The Numbers
- The Grizzlies outshot Florida College by a 15-6 margin, highlighted by an 8-2 edge during the second half
- Sophomore Josefa Simao scored a career-high two goals during Thursday's triumph
- Sophomore Alejandro Contrera provided a pair of assists
- GGC recorded six corner kicks across the 90 minutes of action
News & Notes
- GGC improves to 8-2-3 on the season; Florida College drops to 5-7-1 in 2025
- The Grizzlies are ranked No. 15 in the latest NAIA Top 25 poll, released on Wednesday, October 15
- The team has won all six matches played in the series against Florida College; the two teams are members of the Continental Athletic Conference
- GGC has scored in the first half during nine of its 10 home matches this season
Up Next
Georgia Gwinnett College is scheduled to host Talladega College (Alabama) on Senior Day on Friday, October 17, at the Grizzly Soccer Complex, starting at 7 p.m. The team's seniors will be recognized in pregame festivities.
