Wells helps Bulldogs win in shootout

Published 11:05 am Thursday, March 20, 2025

Some people say non-region regular season contests don’t really matter.

Don’t tell that to the GMC Prep and Lake Oconee Academy boys soccer teams. Their instant classic Tuesday had all the emotion of a state playoff game as the foes played to a 1-1 draw in regulation and had to settle the score on penalty kicks. The Bulldogs went 7-for-7 in the one-on-one shootout versus the LOA keeper. The visiting Titans made their first six shots, but the seventh was deflected down to the ground by GMC sophomore goalie Hayden Wells, sending the home team and fans into a frenzy.

“Hayden showed a lot of composure,” Bulldogs soccer coach Bobby Jaworski said. “There were moments in the past where we’ve seen him get frustrated after allowing a goal. He kept himself centered tonight, so that shows a lot of growth and maturity on his part.”

It was a little redemption for the GMC boys whose lone loss so far this season was on PKs at Peach County in mid-February. Jaworski said the team has worked on them at practice since. Ties in practice competitions go to PKs, declaring a winner while giving a little more work on the unique scenario. The work showed as his players buried every shot Tuesday.

The dramatic display was a fitting end to a competitive match played on GMC’s Davenport Field, GMC soccer’s temporary home this season while its regular venue Robertson Field undergoes a natural turf replacement. The Bulldogs were first to get on the board thanks to junior Greyson Robbins’ Olimpico goal from the right corner. An Olimpico is scored directly from a corner kick without any other player touching the ball. LOA senior keeper Knox Van Mol made a great effort, but his hands met crossbar instead of ball as Robbins’ beautifully bent shot made its way into the net. That came with 25:23 remaining in the opening half.

It was the only opportunity the Bulldogs made good on in the first 40 minutes.

“I feel like we were definitely on the front foot in the first half,” said Jaworski. “We were creating a lot of chances, just weren’t able to capitalize on them.”

The Titans of Greensboro were putting up a good fight too. With his perspective of the whole field, keeper Van Mol could be heard constantly shouting directions to his teammates. They knotted the score early in the second half by flowing the ball up the right side of the field before finding an open player at the top of the box for the equalizing goal.

“The script flipped in the second half, and we didn’t necessarily change to counter that,” Jaworski said. “They were able to find soft pockets with a lot of numbers to create a lot of shots. The goal we gave up definitely could’ve been avoided. It was a good developmental play on their part, but we didn’t necessarily put ourselves in good defensive position to be able to receive that where we did in the first half.”

Both teams created opportunities to try and break the tie in regulation, but neither could. LOA kept the upper hand for much of the second before the Bulldogs produced a flurry of activity in the final minutes.

Georgia High School Association rules stipulate that non-region regular season games forego overtime and go straight to PKs. After regulation Tuesday, attention and action turned towards the north end of Davenport Field. Penalty kicks pit a shooter from one team against the goalkeeper from the other, one-on-one. Each team picks five players and they alternate to see who does better in a best-of-five. In order: GMC’s Landon Oltremari, LOA’s Leonardo Inostrosa, GMC’s Madhav Patel, LOA’s Palmer Larkin, GMC’s Bennie Huff IV, LOA’s Nick Jaronski, GMC’s Gavin Smith, LOA’s Julio Arriaza, GMC’s James Portwood, and LOA’s Van Mol produced a 5-5 tie.

That sent the shootout to a second, sudden-death round where a make followed by a miss or vice versa would determine the winner. Robbins cashed in, as did LOA’s Christopher Arrue. Then sophomore Max Adams sent a line drive to the left side past the diving attempt of the keeper Van Mol. It came down to Titan James McCuin versus Wells. McCuin shot and Wells leaned a little left to get both hands on the ball and send it to the ground before running off the field to celebrate with his teammates and coaches.

The game was a preview for a possible rematch that could come with much higher stakes. Depending on how the bracket shakes out, the GMC and LOA boys could see one another again this postseason in what would be a must-see game.

LOA girls run away to win 7-0

In earlier action, the LOA Lady Titans enjoyed a 7-0 victory over the GMC Prep girls. Lake Oconee Academy led just 2-0 with eight minutes left in the opening half, but turned up the heat to score three more goals in a little over three minutes and take a 5-0 advantage into halftime. The Lady Titans added a couple more to make their win even more comfortable.