Soccer’s Core Four

Change is meant to be disorienting. It can throw just about anyone off kilter while everything around them seems to be in a frenzy. Transferring between colleges means adjusting to an entirely new environment, with new teammates, coaches and expectations. 

For most student athletes, that's a lot to take on alone. Fortunately, Pedro Alejandro, Gabriel Martins, Pedro Nunes, and Francisco Osorio embarked on this transfer journey together as a unit, with each other supporting every step along the way.

They played reserve roles as Dalton State College won the 2024 NAIA national championship with a 22-0-2 record. However, soon afterward, Head Coach Saif Alsafeer left for a NCAA Division I associate head coaching opportunity and Assistant Coach Tom Bentham moved down state to a similar role at Georgia Gwinnett College.

The four soccer players also packed up together, moved in together and strutted right into a Grizzly program that had a national-championship pedigree.

They still had things to prove in Lawrenceville.

“We were already close, but, of course, coming here together and living together made us even closer,” Osorio says.

A Bond That Predates GGC

The bond that these men have cultivated over the years predates GGC and Dalton State. Their connection can be traced all the way back to summer league play with the Lakeland United team in Florida, where they honed their soccer skills. 

They were unified in following Bentham to GGC in 2025.

When asked whether living together helped with the transition into a school full of new faces, Martins didn't hesitate. “For sure it helped, because we always had this safe background. When we go home, we are just us four. When we come to some place, we are always together, and at least that makes you feel safer. We have each other.”

Nunes describes what that closeness has grown into after three years as college roommates: “It's like we're family.”

Building a Legacy, On and Off The Field 

If you ask around the GGC program, these four student-athletes are credited with cultivating a sense of community within the team that is conducive for success on and off the soccer pitch. It’s the kind of efforts that can't be read in a match’s box score: the second effort made on a play, the critical tackle that disrupts an opponent’s offensive attack at midfield, or the constant talking with teammates on the field.

“When Tom invited us to come to GGC, we knew that one of our main goals here would be helping change the culture,” states Osorio, who is from Campinas, Brazil. “We still have a lot of work to do, but I think we are going in the right direction.”

When asked what each of them brings to the GGC program and 2026 team, each player defined their role a little differently. 

Osorio sees his job as bridging the players’ camaraderie within the locker room and the team’s performance on the field.

“My role as a senior and being part of the leadership group is, of course, to help the new guys understand what it means to be part of the team. That’s because our goal this year is to win everything (NAIA championship). I think I have an important role inside and outside the field,” he says.

Alejandro has embraced a nickname that came from his own making: The Standard. It describes how he wants to be seen by those around him. 

“I think my role this year is to exemplify what it means to have the standard,” the San Juan, Puerto Rico, native remarks. “I want people to look at me in any aspect of my life, whatever I'm doing. It can be going to class. It can be preparing my meals. It can be eating after a game and recovery, whatever. I want people to look at me and be like, that's the way things need to be done, and just exemplify to the younger generation how things have to be done.”

Even though he is now leaned upon more heavily as a scorer for the Grizzlies, Nunes still frames his value the same way he always has. 

“I always do everything I can to the best of my abilities,” the Orlando, Florida, native says. 

Martins is another standard bearer for the team, stating, “My job is helping build something that, in the long term, we are going to win. That means building a team culture. If we keep that standard, keep the values that we are trying to implement here, I guarantee that we are going to win.”

The GGC Effect

Before ever setting foot on the GGC campus, the group knew about the program, built by Head Coach Steve DeCou, by reputation. 

Alejandro had actually played against the Grizzlies in 2023 during his freshman season at Louisiana Christian University, before transferring to Dalton. “[GGC] was a crazy team. We got a draw (1-1) that day (in the Dalton State Classic), and they were completely better than us,” he recalls. “We saw the equipment that they [GGC] rolled into the Dalton State Classic with. We were like, wow, that's a real program.”

Since transferring to Lawrenceville, the players have experienced real, true school pride. “We represent the Grizzly. Here, we are the Grizzlies,” says Martins.

They have helped GGC to a 5-3-1 record and No. 6 national ranking this season. Nunes ranks second on the team with five goals and one assist while starting all nine matches. Osorio follows closely behind with four goals, while Martins has found the back of the net twice while being in key reserve roles for the team. Alejandro has contributed an assist in his nine defensive starting assignments.

Four Players, One House

Ask them to describe each other and these four men had nothing but heartfelt comments and loving anecdotes. 

Osorio, known for his allegiance to the Brazilian club Grêmio, provides a competitive edge to the team. “If we got to choose someone to win a (loose) 50-50 ball (on the soccer field), he will be there. All day,” remarks Martins.

Alejandro is the one his teammates point to when the conversation turns to standards. “He's one of the only guys that is willing to die inside that field to win that game,” Osorio states. 

Meanwhile, Nunes brings joy to the team and always makes people smile. Alejandro adds, “Without his energy, I don't think we get anywhere. There’s going to be days when everybody's down and, when that occurs, you look to the side and he’s buzzing. He’s like a live wire.”

Martins, a midfielder, is the one others credit for keeping his teammates grounded. 

“He always sees the positive side of things, instead of complaining,” Osorio says. 

Nunes went further, stating, “When I first came to Dalton in my freshman year, I don't think I could have been with a roommate that was better for me to grow. Even now, sometimes I will look at him as an inspiration.”

They are four players, one house, and a program that they're working together to make a mark – one day and match at a time.