The No. 2-ranked Georgia Gwinnett College men's soccer team overcame a halftime deficit with four second half goals for a 5-2 victory over New College of Florida on Saturday evening. The match came on the first day of the Labor Day Grizzly Classic at the Grizzly Soccer Complex.
The Grizzlies (3-0-1) trailed 2-1 after the opening 45 minutes of action but quickly turned things around by scoring two goals in the opening five minutes of the second half.
Sophomore
Ousmane Fall started the comeback by finding the lower right corner of the opposing goal on a shot from 20 yards, tying the match at 2-2 in the 49th minute. It was his second tally of the contest.
Two minutes later, freshman
JJ Grimaldo duplicated Fall's effort, scoring from nearly the same spot on the pitch with a shot from the left side of the 18-yard box. The effort floated just inside the right side of the net to give the hosts their first lead of the night, at 3-2 on the scoreboard.
GGC added two more goals 31 seconds apart in the 79th minute to seal the victory. Junior
Pedro Nunes converted a rebound after an initial shot by classmate
Amadou Diop struck the right goal post. Freshman
Santino Mazzoni then headed the ball into the net for his first collegiate goal, extending the lead to 5-2.
The Grizzlies outshot New College of Florida (0-2-0) by an 11-2 margin in the second half and had four corner kicks across Saturday's second 45-minute stanza.
The match was delayed two hours by lightning in the Lawrenceville area. New College of Florida showed no effects from the pause in action, scoring in the opening 57 seconds of the match on a shot by Cameron Johnson.
GGC evened the contest in the 23rd minute when Fall converted a goal in front of the open net, benefitting from quick passes by Nunes and Diop.
New College of Florida regained the lead, at 2-1, in the 36th minute when Juan Gomez-Cuetara scored an unassisted goal.
Fall led the host's offensive charge with two goals out of his four shots in the match. He leads the team with six goals for the season. Diop contributed a pair of assists. Senior
Francisco Osorio attempted three shots and junior
Djordje Djurasinovic added two shots.
Coach's Corner
"It was a tale of two halves. We got outworked and outhustled in the first half. They (New College of Florida) brought more energy than we did in the first half. Tactically we were ok, but the message at halftime was to win first and second balls. We may have a lot of returning players, but this is a new team that has to learn what it takes to win," said Head Coach
Steve DeCou.
Turning Point
GGC scored twice in the opening five minutes of the second half to take the lead for good. Sophomore
Ousmane Fall tallied his second goal of the match to square the contest at 2-2 in the 49th minute. Then, freshman
JJ Grimaldo found the back of the net two minutes later to score the eventual match winner. The Grizzlies outshot New College of Florida by a 11-2 margin in the second half.
Goals
1' – Cameron Johnson, NCF (Ducamel Jeannestin
)
23' –
Ousmane Fall, GGC (
Pedro Nunes and
Amadou Diop)
36' – Juan Gomez-Cuetara, NCF (Unassisted)
49' –
Ousmane Fall, GGC (Unassisted)
51' –
JJ Grimaldo, GGC (Unassisted)
79' –
Pedro Nunes, GGC (
Amadou Diop)
79' –
Santino Mazzoni, GGC (Unassisted)
Inside The Numbers
- The Grizzlies outshot New College of Florida by a 16-7 margin, including an 11-2 edge during the second half
- Sophomore Ousmane Fall continues to lead the Grizzlies in goals, having scored six across four matches this season
- Junior Amadou Diop registered a pair of assists
- GGC attempted 11 corner kicks across Saturday's 90 minutes of action
News & Notes
- GGC improves to 3-0-1 on the season; New College of Florida drops to 0-2-0
- The Grizzlies stood No. 2 in the first regular season NAIA Top 25 poll
- Georgia Gwinnett College's Office of Athletics held a food drive, where spectators received free admission by bringing non-perishable food items for the GGC pantry
- The team has scored five goals in a match for the third time this season
Up Next
Georgia Gwinnett College is scheduled to host No. 5-ranked MidAmerica Nazarene University (Kansas) on Monday, September 7, starting at 11 a.m., to close out the Labor Day Grizzly Classic at the Grizzly Soccer Complex.
