LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – Georgia Gwinnett scored twice within a five-minute span of the first half to hand Vanguard a 2-0 defeat in the NAIA Men's Soccer Championship Opening Round on Thursday afternoon.
The Lions finished the season 11-4-3 as their five-match winning streak was snapped. Vanguard posted double-digit wins for the eighth time in the last nine seasons while winning back-to-back Golden State Athletic Conference Tournament championships for the first time in school history.
The Grizzlies improved to 13-2-2 and advanced to the Opening Round finals against the winner of Indiana Wesleyan and Columbia (Mo.).
Georgia Gwinnett outshot Vanguard 12-9 and had a 10-6 edge in corner kicks. Andreas von Muecke made four saves to secure the shutout for the Grizzlies. Edwin Monterrosa (FR/Los Angeles, CA) stopped five shots for VU.
The Lions got two shots apiece from Nathaniel Gomez (JR/Dominguez, CA), Jesse Gonzalez (SR/Fullerton, CA) and Robert Ronco (FR/San Diego, CA).
What Happened?: Monterrosa was pressed into duty just 29 seconds into the game as he made a save on Georgia Gwinnett's Emanuele Sordi.
The Grizzlies controlled ball possession for much of the first half and broke through at the 16:33 mark. Aleksandar Racanovic penetrated the VU backline and slid a short backwards pass to Karim Tmimi. Tmimi turned and delivered a soft touch to Diego Milessi, who buried a shot past Monterrosa to the lower left for the 1-0 lead.
Marco Panaccione nearly gave the Grizzlies a two-goal advantage, but his 22nd minute strike deflected off VU's Harold Aguirre (SR/Long Beach, CA) and wide.
Less than a minute later, Georgia Gwinnett capitalized on a hustle play to put the Lions into a 2-0 hole.
Thomas Herwig chipped a high ball into the box. Monterrosa briefly hesitated to corral it, creating a 50-50 challenge with Juan Cruz Parisi Sitjar. Parisi Sitjar won the aerial battle and headed his shot past the VU goalie for the 22nd minute goal, his second of the season.
Ronco got an open look in the 33rd minute but his shot went straight to von Muecke for the save.
Parisi Sitjar had an opportunity for a brace, but his shot missed wide right three minutes before halftime.
At intermission, Georgia Gwinnett led 8-3 in shots and 5-1 in corner kicks.
The Lions became more aggressive in the second half as they sought to make up ground, and outshot the Grizzlies 6-4 in the second frame.
Aidan Doherty (SO/Huntington Beach, CA) had a potential 1v1 with von Muecke but could not latch on to a through ball in the early going of the second half.
The Grizzlies had two solid chances to increase the lead further in the 50th minute, but Monterrosa stonewalled Rajkovic, and Tyler Redmon (FR/La Verne, CA) chested a shot by Jason Strambu off the goal line.
VU's best scoring opportunity came in the 55th minute when Ronco's shot deflected off a Grizzly defender and under the crossbar. The Lions initially felt the ball had crossed the line when it pinged off the crossbar, but the referee ruled that it was still in play.
Monterrosa made a stellar save in the 75th minute when he tipped Tmimi's header over the crossbar.
The Lions tried to find some late game magic, but Gonzalez's shot in the 84th minute was corralled by von Muecke. Another VU chance a minute later was cleared by a Grizzly defender near the goal mouth.
VU was shutout for just the third time all season. The Lions fell to 4-3-1 all-time in NAIA postseason opening round games.
