Georgia Gwinnett College Athletics

Championship Celebration

The good times continue for the Georgia Gwinnett College men's soccer team, with two second-half goals leading to a 2-1 victory against top-seeded and No. 6-ranked Bellevue University and capturing the 2018 Association of Independent Institutions men's soccer championship on Saturday evening at the Grizzly Soccer Complex.

The victory secures a berth in the NAIA national tournament for the Grizzlies, which won their seventh straight match of the season to improve to 11-5-1 for the season. It was the first loss of the season for Bellevue (17-1-2).

This is GGC's fourth conference title in six seasons of postseason eligibility. The team has played in the conference's postseason tournament championship match every season.

Sophomore Myles Barber drilled a shot past the Bellevue goalkeeper from the edge of the 18-yard box in the 56th minute for the eventual game-winning goal.

After trailing 1-0 at halftime, the Grizzlies tied the match in the 50th minute on an own goal after a pass from freshman Omar Thali was deflected into the Bellevue goal by one of the Bruins' players.

Bellevue got on the scoreboard in the 30th minute when Travis Hurd converted a breakaway opportunity.



The Grizzlies outshot Bellevue by a 9-to-6 margin and had five corner kicks.

Senior defender Andrew White was named the championship tournament's most valuable player. Meanwhile, sophomores Krishna Clarke, Michael Weber, Toni Tiente and Barber earned a spot on the all-tournament team.