Practice made perfect as the Georgia Gwinnett College men's soccer team rose to the occasion and won the Continental Athletic Conference's Summit Division tournament championship with a 2-0 victory against Florida National University on Tuesday evening at the Grizzly Soccer Complex.
The top-seeded Grizzlies (12-4-1) captured their seventh conference championship and 12th bid to the NAIA national tournament – in 15 years for the program. The team takes a seven-match winning streak into a NAIA first-round contest on November 19, with an opponent and competition site to be announced on Saturday, November 14.
Head Coach
Steve DeCou took advantage of practice sessions during a two-week regular season break to have GGC players concentrate on taking full advantage of set offensive plays on the pitch.
The Grizzlies applied those lessons on several occasions in the tightly contested championship match, including the play that set up the team's first goal in the 42nd minute. Senior
Francisco Osorio delivered a crossing pass from a free kick on the right side of the pitch, 20 yards away from the FNU goal. Sophomore
Jean Malilo perfectly timed his leap amongst several opposing defenders to strike a header into the left side of the net.
Then, sophomore
Ousmane Fall once again made an immediate impact for GGC after entering the contest from the bench, scoring in the 58th minute of the match. Intricate passing between junior
Pedro Nunes and Osorio got the ball to Fall in front of the FNU net. Once the 2025 All-American had control of the ball on his right foot, he evaded opposing defenders and then smashed the ball past the outreached arms of the Conquistadors' goalkeeper.
Fall was named the Most Outstanding Player of the divisional tournament after scoring two of GGC's five goals in the two victories, both coming in key reserve roles. He only saw action in 22 minutes of Tuesday's championship match. Fall now leads the team with nine goals this season – scoring goals in six of the eight matches he has played this season.
Sophomore
Michael Mallaburn, freshman
JJ Grimaldo and Malilo each had two shots in GGC's 10-shot offensive attack against FNU (10-8-1). Sophomores
Luka Colic,
Brayan Gomez and Fall joined junior
Josefa Simao with one shot apiece.
Senior goalkeeper
Dagoberto Romero made three key saves in recording the shutout.
Freshman
Santino Mazzoni joined Fall, Malilo and Romero as Grizzlies on the all-tournament team.
Coach's Corner
"I'm proud of the players and their effort in this match. With everything that we have been through this season, I'm thankful for this championship. We haven't always played the prettiest soccer, but it has been effective down the stretch (of the season). The first goal on a set piece, right before the half, was a dagger for [Florida National]. We then withstood their pressure down the stretch (to get the victory). Our defense was very strong all night long," said Head Coach
Steve DeCou.
Turning Point
Senior
Francisco Osorio contributed pin-point assisting passes that contributed to both of the Grizzlies' goals in the championship match. The first effort came on a set play off a free kick 20 yards on the right side of the Florida National goal. Sophomore
Jean Malilo met the pass for a header into the left side of the net in the 42nd minute. A pass play between Osorio and junior
Pedro Nunes managed to find sophomore
Ousmane Fall open in front of the opposing goal. The tournament MVP proceeded to score in the 58th minute for a key insurance tally.
Goals
42' –
Jean Malilo, GGC (
Francisco Osorio)
58' –
Ousmane Fall, GGC (
Francisco Osorio and
Pedro Nunes)
Inside The Numbers
- GGC outshot Florida National by a 10-7 margin and had a 6-3 advantage in shots on goal in the match
- Senior Francisco Osorio assisted on both of the team's goals Tuesday night
- Eighteen players saw action in the championship match, with nine contributing assists or shots
- The Grizzlies outscored their two opponents by a 5-1 margin in the divisional tournament
News & Notes
- Georgia Gwinnett takes a 12-4-1 record into the NAIA national tournament; Florida National closes out the season at 10-8-1
- The Grizzlies have won their last seven matches, posting six shutouts during the winning streak
- GGC will be making its 12th NAIA tournament appearance and 10th in the past 11 seasons
- The team now has a 6-2-1 record in the all-time series with Florida National; there have been four straight shutouts in the series; GGC beat FNU twice this fall, both by shutouts
Up Next
Georgia Gwinnett College will learn its first-round opponent for the 2026 NAIA national tournament when the matchups are announced by the national office on Saturday, November 14, at 7 p.m. First and second round matches are November 19-21 at campus sites.
