LOS ANGELES – On the heels of a comeback home-opening draw earlier in the week against Michigan, the FGCU men’s soccer team (0-1-1) heads to the West Coast this weekend to face Loyola Marymount (0-2-0) on Friday, Sept. 2, at 10 p.m. Eastern (7 p.m. local) and UC Irvine (0-2-0) on Sunday, Sept. 4, at 4:30 p.m. Eastern (1:30 p.m. local).

OPENING KICK
FGCU’s 0-1-1 start is the same as last year when the Eagles went on to finish 7-4-3 overall and claim an unprecedented sixth-straight Atlantic Sun Conference Regular Season Championship. The Eagles will be facing Loyola Marymount for the first time, while their meeting with UC Irvine will be the second in program history.

QUICK START OFFENSIVELY
FGCU has scored three goals through its first two games, which is actually tied for the third-most in the program’s now 10 seasons of history. The inaugural 2007 team also posted three goals (all in its first-ever game), while the 2010 club posted four tallies through the first two games and the 2013 edition has the record with five.

RECORD-SETTING NIGHT
In keeping with the offensive theme, FGCU produced 29 shots in Monday’s 2-2 tie with Michigan – setting the single-game program record. The previous mark was 28 established versus Bucknell in a 2-1 Green and Blue win on Sept. 2, 2012. Individually, senior Dylan Sacramento (Winnipeg, Manitoba/York University/Bill Crothers S.S.) tied the single-game record for shots with eight – matching the mark previously held alone by Felipe DeSousa opposite FIU in 2014.

PK SPECIALIST
ASUN All-Preseason pick Albert Ruiz (Barcelona, Spain/UE Cornella/CE L’Hospitalet) led the Eagles in goals and points a season ago, and the striker has commenced his junior campaign in similar fashion with a team-best pair of goals (T-2nd, ASUN) and five points (2nd, ASUN). Both of those goals have been penalty-kick conversions as the specialist is 7-7 in his career – three more such goals than any other player in program history. He now has 10 career goals to tie for the fifth-most in program history with 2014 product Xavier Silva. The program record is 19 from 2008-11 by Cristian Raudales.

KEEPER ROTATION
Head coach Bob Butehorn started freshman goalkeeper Jared Brown (Aurora, Ontario/St. Maximilian Kolbe CHS) in the team’s season opener at Northwestern last Friday before giving the starting nod to sophomore Sawyer Jackman (Chicago, Ill./St. Charles East HS) against Michigan on Monday. Both keepers allowed two goals – Brown’s were each off penalty kicks – and also made three saves in their appearances. Both also made potential game-saving stops late in their respective contests to keep the Eagles either within striking distance or tied. Brown has a 2.00 goals-against average as a result of playing 90 minutes in the 2-1 setback to the Wildcats, while Jackman’s GAA sits at 1.64 due to the 110 minutes logged in the 2-2 draw with the Wolverines.

WEST COAST FAMILIARITY
This will be FGCU’s fifth trip to the West Coast in the last eight years. Beginning in 2009, the team played a pair of games in Las Vegas before heading to the Pacific Northwest in 2011 (Portland) and 2013 (Seattle) for a set of contests. The Eagles were last in California in 2014 when they played San Francisco and Saint Mary’s in the Bay Area.

SCOUTING LOYOLA MARYMOUNT
LMU opened its season by traveling to Central New York and leaving with a pair of losses to Colgate (1-0) and #6 Syracuse (2-1, 2 OT) last weekend. The Lions – who went 9-9-0 in 2015 – were predicted to finish fourth in the eight-team West Coast Conference Preseason Poll.

Junior forward Alvaro Madrigal earned a nod to the Preseason All-WCC squad after securing a spot on the All-WCC First Team and the NSCAA All-Far West Region Third Team a season ago. Madrigal led the Lions in goals (eight), assists (five) and points (21) during his breakout sophomore season.

SCOUTING UC IRVINE
UCI commenced its year with a pair of losses in South Bend, Ind., last weekend to #9 Notre Dame, 4-0, and #15 Indiana, 3-1. The Anteaters finished 5-11-4 last year, but had eight games go to overtime and went just 0-4-4 in those contests. UCI was picked to finish tied for second in the Big West South Division Preseason Poll (four division teams, eight in the league).

UC Irvine lost 11 players off its 2015 team and welcomes 10 new faces in 2016. Sophomores Luis Leon, Ivan Canales, Daniel Cristosomo and Jorge Lara key the returning group as the quartet had impactful freshman campaigns in which they provided 10 goals between them and a sizable first-year workload.

FGCU and UCI have met one time previously, and that came as part of a tournament USF was hosting in 2011. The Eagles lost to the then-#5 Anteaters, 2-1. UCI has been ranked nationally in the preseason polls each of the previous two years, but were not this season.

RECAPPING MICHIGAN
After allowing two goals in the first 13 minutes Monday night against Michigan, FGCU fought back with two second-half goals to earn a quality 2-2 double-overtime tie. The Wolverines scored in the 7th and 13th minutes as FGCU came out flat despite 1,051 vocal supporters. However, the Eagles gave those fans a lot to cheer about in the second half as the Green and Blue flipped the pitch in their favor and tallied both goals exactly two minutes apart in the 65th and 67th minutes.

SEASON PREVIEW
In addition to being selected as the ASUN favorites, a trio of Eagles were named to the Preseason All-Conference Team: Nicolas Samayoa (Guatemala City, Guatemala/Colegio Valle Verde), Miguel Jaime (Denver, Colo./Cherry Creek HS) and Ruiz, with Samayoa being selected as the Preseason Defensive Player of the Year and Ruiz being the only unanimous selection to the 14-player team.

The Green and Blue lost six starters off last year’s team, but return 17 letterwinners, including three of their top four scorers: Ruiz (16: 7g, 2a), Sacramento (13: 6g, 1a) and Jaime (6: 2g, 2a). Overall, six of FGCU’s top eight scorers are back, including several members of a defensive unit that once again paced the ASUN in preventing goals by a wide margin.

2015 IN REVIEW
FGCU was ranked nationally for nearly half of last season, climbing as high as #19. The Eagles led the ASUN in points per game at 5.36 (next closest: North Florida, 5.00) and assists per game at 1.64 (next closest: North Florida, 1.33). The Green and Blue produced three professional players off its 2015 roster: Rodrigo Saravia (MLS, Columbus Crew SC), Aaron Guillen (MLS, FC Dallas) and Ingham (NASL, FC Edmonton). Saravia was named ASUN Player of the Year, Guillen was tabbed as the ASUN Defensive Player of the Year and Ingham was garnered with ASUN Goalkeeper of the Year superlatives. Additionally, Butehorn was named ASUN Co-Coach of the Year.

DID YOU KNOW?
FGCU owns the longest home conference regular-season unbeaten streak in the nation at 28 straight (25-0-3). The Eagles have not lost a home ASUN regular-season game in nearly eight years, dating back to a 2-0 defeat against Jacksonville in October of 2008 – the program’s second season.

NEXT UP
FGCU returns home to face San Francisco at the FGCU Soccer Complex on Thursday, Sept. 8, at 7 p.m. The Dons are 0-1 on the year as they fell at Nebraska Omaha, 3-1, in their opener before having their game at Creighton canceled on Monday. San Francisco travels to CSU Bakersfield Thursday night and opens its home slate on Sunday opposite UC Davis.

TICKET INFORMATION
Season and single-game tickets are available for the 2016 campaign, with season tickets starting at just $35. More information, including special discounts and group rates, can be accessed by visiting FGCUTickets.com. To purchase tickets, or for additional inquiries, call the FGCU Ticket Office at 239-590-7145 Monday-Friday from 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

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 115-91-26 (.552) overall record, 81-59-22 (.569) mark in his nine seasons at FGCU and 48-17-6 (.718) 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.

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