GMC waited out the opponent and weather issues, and clutch won it a state championship
There was a flurry, a pop in the head, and then Dylan Smith's strike, giving GMC the GHSA Class A-Public boys state championship.
Video: Michael A. Lough/The Sports Report of Central Georgia, www.centralgasports.com
By Michael A. Lough
The Sports Report
centralgasports@gmail.com
The physical play was a draw, but Lake Oconee led on the scoreboard when lightning cropped up in the area, close enough to Mercer’s Five Star Stadium to clear the place.
That came with 26:31 left in the second half, giving both teams a chance to rest, reflect, and play with strategy.
“We had 26 (minutes ) and 31 seconds,” GMC co-head coach Bobby Jaworski said. “All we had to find was one.”
Logan Steinmeyer found it, and tied the GHS Class A-Public boys state soccer championship with 4:09 left, and on came overtime.
“I think it favored us,” Jaworski said. “We had the energy.”
And that’s what they showed in a possession that ended when Dylan Smith drilled it from the 10-yardline to the back of the net for the lead, which GMC kept for a 2-1 overtime win over Lake Oconee Academy for the title.
It was the Bulldogs’ second 2-1 win this season over Lake Oconee, coached by former GMC multi-sport coach Julie Brooker.
Steinmeyer has been a revelation this year, after starting only nine game last year to become the Bulldogs’ second-leading goal scorer this year.
Smith, also a senior, was tied for third on the team in goals, was solid on the eventual game-winner.
“Dylan just, he hawked the ball and buried,” said Jaworski, a little jazzed on the memory. “I mean …”
It wasn’t long ago that GMC was a soccer afterthought, but the Bulldogs have progressed the past few years to the point of contender. There are six seniors among the regulars, but there is a nucleus of sophomores who have been huge.
Thursday night, a senior, freshman, and a sophomore were boosts.
Halftime and a weather delay gave GMC a chance to regroup, and the Bulldogs tied it late and won the GHSA Class A-Public boys state soccer title in OT under GMC alum co-head coach Bobby Jaworski.
Video: Michael A. Lough/The Sports Report of Central Georgia, www.centralgasports.com
“Michael Barnes played a heck of a role in the middle,” Jaworski said. “He definitely played as physical as they were, and we matched up pretty well with that.
“Defensively, Avery Kirkland stepped (up). He’s one of our freshmen, and he played really great minutes there in the second half. Eden Kaninjing, we moved him from that left back to the right wing, and he created a lot of good opportunities.”
GMC beat Lake Oconee 2-1 early in the season under much different conditions than warm and dry.
“It was faster, it was a lot faster,” Jaworski said of Thursday’s game, a track that probably favored Lake Oconee going in. “When we played, it was cold, it was a little damp on our field, so we were slipping and moving around.”
Lake Oconee forced the issue late, and was near the GMC goal working desperately to get another good shot off when the clock finally ran out, and the Bulldogs sprinted to their fans, who battled Lake Oconee’s supporters for noise all night long.
As Jaworski stood on the field talking, a sea of red waited between the edge of the stadium and the corner of the Homer and Ruth Drake Field House for the Bulldogs to hit the locker room, take a breath, and then celebrate with them.
“This was a gut-it-out,” the GMC alum said. “The atmosphere, I think everybody got their money’s worth.”