GSC Soccer To Play For GCAA Title
Gordon State Soccer booked its place in the Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association Championship game for the fourth consecutive year with a 1-0 semifinal victory over Georgia Military College here Sunday afternoon.
The No. 3 seed Highlanders avenged a pair of regular season losses to the No. 2 seed Bulldogs – a 3-2 overtime home loss and a 3-0 road loss.
GSC (7-3) hits the road again to face No. 1 seed South Georgia State College on Wednesday, May 19, at 4 p.m. ET in Douglas, Ga., for the GCAA / NJCAA Region 17 championship.
SGSC (6-2-2) defeated No. 4 Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College (ABAC) 2-0 on Sunday.
Sunday’s semifinal was a matchup of two sides who have faced off in the GCAA final each of the last three seasons. This year, however, the teams tangled one round earlier for a right to play for the GCAA / NJCAA Region 17 championship.
Throughout the match, both teams were able to create chances while waging their all-to familiar battle for supremacy. Ultimately the deciding goal would come from the GCAA’s leading goal scorer, freshman Sophia Kotopka (Riverview, Ga. / East Bay High School).
In the 38th minute, freshman Madison Schmucker (Cape Coral, Fla. / Ida S. Baker High School) broke behind the GMC defensive line and fired a shot that caromed off the crossbar. Kotopka was quickest to react and drove her shot off the bottom of the crossbar and into the net.
The Highlanders second consecutive shutout was a result of their resolute commitment to defending. Sophomore Becca Doyle (Acworth, Ga. / Harrison High School) collected her third clean sheet of the season, a season in which she has only conceded one goal.
GMC completes its 2021 spring season at 6-3-1.
Watch Wednesday's match here: