Matchup: #15 FGCU (12-3-1, 4-1-0 ASUN) @ Lipscomb (9-5-1, 3-2-0 ASUN)
When: Saturday, Oct. 29 | 8 PM Eastern | Nashville, Tenn.
Links: Video | Live Stats | Twitter
Coaches: Bob Butehorn (10th Season @ FGCU, 93-61-22; 14th Overall, 127-93-26) | Charles Morrow (12th Season @ Lipscomb, 89-114-21; 13th Overall, 109-127-27)

NASHVILLE – Looking to secure its 7th-straight ASUN Conference Regular Season Championship, the #15 FGCU men’s soccer team heads to Music City for a critical league finale match versus Lipscomb on Saturday at 8 p.m. Eastern (7 Central).

SETTING THE STAGE
FGCU enters the match one point behind league leader North Florida. FGCU needs a win at Lipscomb and a North Florida loss or tie at USC Upstate on Saturday in order to secure its outright regular-season title and No. 1 seed in next week’s ASUN Tournament.

ASUN STANDINGS

Team	PTS	ASUN	OVERALL	REMAINING
North Florida	13	4-0-1	8-3-2	@ USC Upstate
FGCU	12	4-1-0	12-3-1	@ Lipscomb
NJIT	10	3-2-1	7-5-4
Lipscomb	9	3-2-0	9-5-1	vs. FGCU
Jacksonville	3	1-4-0	5-9-0	@ Stetson
Stetson	3	1-4-0	4-8-2	vs. Jacksonville
USC Upstate	3	1-4-0	3-9-0	vs. North Florida

ASUN TOURNAMENT
North Florida, FGCU, NJIT and Lipscomb have already clinched spots in the six-team ASUN Tournament. USC Upstate is hosting North Florida, and with a win will guarantee itself a spot in the field, while Jacksonville and Stetson go head-to-head.

Below are the ASUN Tournament seeding scenarios for FGCU (excluding the aforementioned No. 1 potential), UNF and Lipscomb entering the final regular-season match of the year:

FGCU: No. 2 seed with a win/tie AND a North Florida win/tie; No. 3 seed with a loss. If FGCU and UNF both finish with 13 points (FGCU ties, UNF loses), the Eagles will share the regular-season title with the Ospreys but receive the No. 2 seed as a result of UNF’s 3-2 win over FGCU.

North Florida: No. 1 seed and regular season champion with a win OR a FGCU loss/tie; No. 2 seed with a loss/tie AND a FGCU win.

Lipscomb: No. 2 seed with a win; No. 3 seed with a tie; No. 4 seed with a loss.

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
If FGCU were to secure the No. 1 or No. 2 seed, the Eagles would host an ASUN Tournament quarterfinal match at the FGCU Soccer Complex next Thursday, Nov. 3, between either the No. 4 vs. No. 5 seed (if FGCU was the No. 1 seed) or the No. 3 vs. No. 6 seed (if FGCU was the No. 2 seed). The Eagles would then host the winner of that match in an ASUN semifinal on Saturday, Nov. 5. The ASUN Championship game is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 12, at the highest remaining seed.

If FGCU is the No. 3 seed, it will travel to either North Florida or Lipscomb for the quarterfinal match on Friday, Nov. 4. If the Eagles win that game, they will remain on site and face either UNF or Lipscomb in a semifinal on Sunday, Nov. 6. The dates are different if the Eagles are on the road than at home due to the FGCU women’s soccer team hosting the ASUN Tournament semifinals (Nov. 4) and final (Nov. 6).

NATION’S BEST
FGCU continues to lead the nation in nearly every offensive category by a wide margin: goals (51 next closest: 39), points (143, next closest: 123), goals per game (3.19, next closest: 2.47) and points per game (8.94, next closest: 7.69). The goal and point totals are already single-season program records, far surpassing the previous marks of 35 and 108, respectively.

Individually, junior Albert Ruiz (Barcelona, Spain/ CE L’Hospitalet/UE Cornella) leads the country with 17 goals, while redshirt sophomore Arion Sobers-Assue (Miami, Fla./DeMatha Catholic HS) is tied for 7th with 11 goals. Ruiz also paces all of Division I with 39 points – six more than any other player in the nation – and Sobers-Assue is tied for 6th with 29 points.

The Eagles have scored at least two goals in every match this year with the exception of two – and those came in the first three outings of the year. FGCU has not been shut out yet this year, something that has never happened in regular season program history.

CLOSING IN ON HISTORY
FGCU is one victory shy of matching the program’s single-season record for wins with 13 set by the 2010 team. That squad finished 13-3-2 in the final year in which FGCU was ineligible for the postseason as it went through its D-I transition. The 12 wins for this year’s edition of the Green and Blue are unmatched as the 2nd-best in program history, and with a triumph at Lipscomb they will have an opportunity to establish the all-time mark in the ASUN Tournament.

STREAK ON THE LINE
By virtue of a 4-0-1 ASUN record last year, FGCU claimed an unprecedented 6th-straight ASUN Regular Season Championship, but without a win over the Bisons and some help from UNF, that run will come to end this year. Despite only joining the league and becoming a D-I member in 2007, FGCU was the first program in the history of the ASUN to claim at least a share of five-straight regular-season titles, let alone six in a row.

ALL-TIME vs. LIPSCOMB: 7-3-0
FGCU holds the all-time edge in the series against the Bisons by a wide margin, but seven of the 10 matches have been decided by one goal. After Lipscomb won the first meeting, 2-0, FGCU claimed four-straight 2-1 victories. FGCU has dropped both of its last two games at Lipscomb as the Eagles haven’t won in Nashville since the 2010 season. However, the last time the Eagles were in Music City was for the 2014 ASUN Tournament, and the Green and Blue posted a pair of shutouts over Northern Kentucky and North Florida on Lipscomb’s home pitch to win the ASUN title.

SCOUTING THE BISONS
Lipscomb has won a season-high four-straight games as the Bisons are coming off a 2-1 victory at Evansville Tuesday night. Lipscomb – along with FGCU and UNF – received two 1st-place votes in the ASUN Preseason Poll, and enter the match with an RPI just outside the top 50 in the nation.

For the second time this season, and first time in conference play, the Bisons’ offense produced four goals in a match last week. Lipscomb defeated NJIT, 4-1, on the road, pushing its season record to 4-0 when scoring three goals or more.

Logan Paynter has netted four goals in his last four matches. His nine goals are a personal single-season high, and with 15 career goals he already is tied for the 3rd-most in Lipscomb history. His nine goals this season rank 22nd in the country.

In net, Micah Bledsoe has five shutouts this year and 15 clean sheets for his career, tied for the 8th-most in the history of the ASUN.

ASUN DOMINANCE
FGCU owns a dominant 40-5-4 record in all ASUN regular-season games since the start of the 2010 season. Out of a possible 147 points that could have been earned in that time, the Green and Blue have claimed an impressive 124 of them (84.4 percent).

INSIDE THE STREAK
FGCU’s 10-game winning streak from Sept. 4-Oct. 14 was two better than the previous program record of eight set in 2010 and 2012. During the run – which was the longest active streak in the nation – the Eagles out-scored their opponents, 40-15, and scored at least three goals in each of the last eight victories.

OFFENSIVE STALWART
Both Ruiz’s goal (17) and point totals (39) are by far single-season program records as the previous highs were seven and 17, respectively. Additionally, Ruiz has continued to build upon his career program record for points with 57 (previous: 43, Cristian Raudales) and goals with 25 (previous: 19, Raudales). More single-season and all-time records are included at the end of this release.

With the exception of teammate Sobers-Assue’s 11 goals, Ruiz has eight more goals than anyone else in the ASUN this year. Additionally, he has 18 more points than any other player in the league, again with the exception being Sobers-Assue’s 29.

Ruiz has scored the most goals in a single season in the conference dating back to 2006. Additionally, Sobers-Assue’s 11 goals rank tied for 7th in league history in the last decade. The ASUN single-season record for goals is 27 set by Clint Adams of Stetson in 1993.

ASUN Single-Season Goals Record (Since 2006)

1. Albert Ruiz, FGCU (2016) – 17

2. Gordon Wild, USC Upstate (2015) – 16

    Anton Axelsson, Jacksonville (2007) – 16

4. Tommy Krizanovic, Jacksonville (2006) – 14

5. Richard Jata, Campbell (2008) – 12

    Garrett Pettis, Lipscomb (2008) – 12

7. Arion Sobers-Assue, FGCU (2016) – 11

    Four Others Tied

NATIONAL RANKING
FGCU is ranked #15 this week in the highly-respected College Soccer News National Poll, in addition to appearing at #20 in the NSCAA poll, which is the only poll the NCAA officially recognizes.

The Eagles were ranked as high as #11 last week, which was the highest for any FGCU program in the D-I era (2007-08). FGCU has been ranked in the NSCAA top 20 each of the past five weeks. Five weeks ago, FGCU appeared at #15 – four spots higher than the team’s previous regular-season high mark of #19, set three times and most recently last September. The Green and Blue moved up to #12 and remained there for two weeks before the #11 ranking last week and #20 ranking this week.

MORE AWARDS
For the first time in conference history, a team secured five straight ASUN Player of the Week honors in men’s soccer as FGCU collected its fifth in a row last Monday when Sobers-Assue garnered the award for the second time. The redshirt sophomore scored twice, including the game-winner, and added an assist for five points in a 6-0 win over Stetson on Oct. 14.

It continued an award-winning season for FGCU, which has already claimed all of the below individual honors this year:

Sept. 19: Albert Ruiz, ASUN Player of the Week

Sept. 19: Sawyer Jackman, ASUN Defensive Player of the Week

Sept. 19: Albert Ruiz, College Soccer News National Player of the Week

Sept. 20: Albert Ruiz, TopDrawerSoccer National Team of the Week

Sept. 26: Arion Sobers-Assue, ASUN Player of the Week

Sept. 27: Arion Sobers-Assue, NSCAA National Player of the Week

Sept. 27: Arion Sobers-Assue, TopDrawerSoccer National Team of the Week

Oct. 3: Albert Ruiz, ASUN Player of the Week

Oct. 4: Albert Ruiz, TopDrawerSoccer National Player of the Week

Oct. 10: Shak Adams, ASUN Player of the Week

Oct. 17: Arion Sobers-Assue, ASUN Player of the Week

RECORD NIGHTS
On Sept. 27 at Rutgers, Ruiz scored all three of his goals by the 9:02 mark, and is believed to have recorded the fastest hat trick – in terms of time from the start of the game – in D-I history. The junior scored at the 5:42, 8:24 and 9:02 marks. The previous record is believed to have been held by Indiana’s Steve Burks, who tallied three goals 11:41 into a contest with Indiana State on Oct. 6, 1973.

With 3:20 between the first and third goals, Ruiz is the 3rd-fastest player to score three-straight goals at any point of a game in D-I history. He is bettered only by Illinois-Chicago’s John Stone, who did it in 2:15 (28:58-31:13) in 1985, and Saint Joseph’s Kyle Patterson in 2:31 (28:02-30:33) in 2007.

In addition to Ruiz’s three goals, Sobers-Assue also scored at the 9:21 mark, giving the Eagles three goals as a team in a span of just 57 seconds. That is the 2nd-fastest in NCAA D-I history at any point of a game, behind only Syracuse’s 43-second span versus Fordham on Oct. 17, 1989.

The Eagles found a way back into that incredible, historical list again on Oct. 11 when FGCU scored three goals in a 3:47 span to erase a 1-0 deficit against USF. Those goals came at the 66:03, 66:59 and 69:50 marks, ranking as the 15th-fastest in D-I history for a three-goal span by the same team.

HAT TRICK PARTY
Ruiz is the first player in program history with two hat tricks, and it took just 10 days between them. The first men’s soccer season at FGCU was 2007, and it took until Oct. 31, 2010, for a Green and Blue member to record a hat trick when Scott Harrison finally did it versus North Florida. Nearly six years went by before another occurred, and that happened with Ruiz against UNCW on Sept. 17. It then took just three more days for the third hat trick in program history to occur as Sobers-Assue netted three opposite FAU on Sept. 20.

START ANOTHER STREAK
After jumping out to a 2-0 lead not even 15 minutes into its match Oct. 18, FGCU allowed North Florida to score three unanswered goals and leave the FGCU Soccer Complex with a 3-2 triumph. The loss broke a 29-game home regular-season conference unbeaten streak (26-0-3) for FGCU against ASUN members dating back to 2008.

ANIMO, THOMAS
FGCU lost freshman central defender Thomas Delplace (Toulouse, France/Scientific Bac) for the year with a broken leg suffered just more than three minutes into the Eagles’ match at UCF on Sept. 14. Delplace cut across the box and legally challenged what would have been a quality Knights’ scoring chance, but his shin collided with the attacking UCF player’s leg.

In honor of their teammate, FGCU players have started to wear T-shirts in pre-game warmups with text that reads “Animo Thomas” – which translates to “Cheer Up, Thomas” in Spanish.

NEXT UP
ASUN postseason awards will be announced early next week, followed by the start of the league tournament later in the week.

FGCU Career Records

	GOALS				POINTS
1	Albert Ruiz (14-16)	25		1	Albert Ruiz (14-16)	57
2	Cristian Raudales (08-11)	19		2	Cristian Raudales (08-11)	43
3	Felipe DeSousa (12-14)	18		3	Felipe DeSousa (12-14)	38
4	Henry Penagos (10-14)	13		4	Arion Sobers-Assue	32
5	Arion Sobers-Assue (14-16)	12		5	Josey Portillo (08-11)	31
	Scott Harrison (08-11)	12

FGCU Single-Season Records

	GOALS				POINTS
1	Albert Ruiz (2016)	17		1	Albert Ruiz (2016)	39
2	Arion Sobers-Assue (2016)	11		2	Arion Sobers-Assue (2016)	29
3	Albert Ruiz (2015)	7		3	Deion Jones (2010)	17
	Felipe DeSousa (2012)	7			Scott Harrison (2008)	17
	Cristian Raudales (2011)	7		5	Albert Ruiz (2015)	16
	Deion Jones (2010)	7

Ruiz is also the ASUN’s active career leader in goals and points, with 10 more goals than anyone else and 24 more points than anyone else.

FOLLOW ALONG
For up-to-the minute information and a behind-the-scenes look at the FGCU men’s soccer program, follow on Twitter @FGCU_MSoccer, Instagram @FGCU_MSoccer, Facebook /FGCUMSoccer and YouTube /FGCUAthletics.

COACH BUTEHORN
FGCU is led by Bob Butehorn, who has coached six professional players and 54 ASUN All-Conference selections since FGCU started its program in 2007. In just five years of postseason eligibility, Butehorn has guided FGCU to three ASUN Tournament championships and NCAA Tournament appearances – in 2011, 2012 and 2014 – and has won an unprecedented six-straight ASUN regular-season championships. His teams have been ranked nationally on several occasions by multiple media outlets. Now in his 14th season as a head coach, Butehorn has a 127-93-26 (.569) overall record, 93-61-22 (.591) mark in his 10th season at FGCU and 52-18-6 (.724) record in ASUN contests.

SUPPORT THE CAUSE
FGCU Athletics sponsors events throughout the year to benefit the FGCU Campus Food Pantry (www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry) and the Harry Chapin Food Bank (www.harrychapinfoodbank.org), FGCU Athletics’ charities of choice. For more information, including how to make a contribution, please visit www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.