Matchup: FGCU (6-4-1, 3-0-0 ASUN) @ Stetson (6-5-0, 4-0-0 ASUN)
When: Saturday, Oct. 14 | 7 PM
Where: DeLand, Fla. | Athletic Training Center
Links: Watch | Live Stats
Series: FGCU Leads, 6-4-0
Coaches: Jesse Cormier (1st Season @ FGCU (6-4-1); 14th Overall (120-93-48)) | Kyle Gookins (1st Season @ Stetson (6-5-0); Same Overall)

 

DELAND, Fla. – First place in the ASUN standings is on the line Saturday at 7 p.m. when the FGCU men’s soccer team travels to face Stetson in a matchup of the only two remaining undefeated teams in conference action.

 

ASUN STANDINGS

Team	PTS	ASUN	OVERALL
Stetson	12	4-0-0	6-5-0
FGCU	9	3-0-0	6-4-1
NJIT	6	2-1-0	7-5-2
Jacksonville	3	1-1-0	3-7-0
Lipscomb	3	1-3-0	6-6-0
North Florida	0	0-2-0	1-8-1
USC Upstate	0	0-4-0	2-8-2

 

OPENING KICK

The winner of Saturday’s match will have the inside track for the ASUN regular-season title, the No. 1 seed and subsequent hosting responsibilities for the ASUN Tournament next month.

 

Stetson has just one more ASUN game after its tilt with FGCU (at Jacksonville on Oct. 20). The Eagles will travel to USC Upstate (Oct. 21) and then host NJIT (Oct. 28) to wrap up their ASUN schedule.

 

FGCU and Stetson have already secured spots in the six-team ASUN Tournament, but will be battling for seeding and the top spot. The top-2 teams in the ASUN regular-season standings will host a semifinal ASUN Tournament game, with the highest remaining seed hosting the championship final.

 

ALL-TIME vs. STETSON

After Stetson won three-straight one-goal games to open the series against FGCU from 2007-09, the Eagles won three in a row to tie the all-time series at 3-3 until a loss in DeLand in 2013. FGCU has bounced back with three-consecutive victories in the series: 1-0 at home in 2014, 2-0 at Stetson in 2015 and a dominant 6-0 triumph at the FGCU Soccer Complex last year.

 

In last year’s meeting, then-#12 FGCU stretched its winning streak to a program- and nation-best 10 in a row. The 6-0 rout was tied for the largest shutout in program history along with the 2010 season finale versus North Florida. FGCU – which led the nation in nearly every statistical category last year – scored just three minutes into the match and had a 5-0 lead by the 52nd minute.

 

ASUN DOMINANCE

FGCU owns a dominant record of 43-5-5 in all ASUN regular-season games since the start of the 2010 season. Out of a possible 159 points that could have been earned in that time, the Green and Blue have claimed an impressive 134 of them (84 percent).

 

Even more impressive, dating back to October of 2008 – just the program’s second season – FGCU is a gaudy 29-1-3 in home regular-season games against ASUN opponents.

 

ASUN FAVORITES

This year marks the fifth-straight season that FGCU has been selected as the preseason ASUN favorites (co-favorites with Lipscomb in 2014). Impressively, the Eagles have lived up to that billing each year as the Green and Blue have won either the ASUN regular season title or tournament championship every single campaign since 2010 (regular season and tournament champions in 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2016).

 

FGCU has commenced league play with victories over each of the three teams selected below it in the preseason poll – North Florida (2nd, 2-0), Lipscomb (3rd, 2-0) and Jacksonville (4th, 1-0). Stetson was predicted for a 6th-place finish, but will almost certainly finish much higher than that under 1st-year head coach Kyle Gookins.

 

SCOUTING STETSON

^ Saturday’s match will represent Senior Night for Stetson as the Hatters have just one more home match after FGCU (Tuesday vs. FAU).

^ Since having its match at USF on Sept. 14 postponed because of Hurricane Irma, Stetson has won five of its last six games. The lone setback in that stretch came via a 4-0 decision at UCF on Oct. 4. FGCU defeated UCF last month, 1-0.

^ Deniz Dogan leads the Hatters offensively with 11 points off five goals and an assist. The quintet of goals is tied for the 2nd-most in the ASUN, and the 11 points are the 3rd-most in the conference.

^ Joseph Melong boasts the 2nd-best goals-against average (1.09) in the ASUN and has posted three shutouts on the season.

 

LOCKING IN DEFENSIVELY

FGCU remains the only team that has yet to allow a goal in ASUN action this year; every other team in the league has allowed at least two. It is the first time in program history that FGCU has started conference play with three-straight shutouts.

 

INSIDE THE FGCU LINEUP

Shak Adams (Antioch, Tenn./Cane Ridge HS) and Robert Ferrer (Barcelona, Spain/Brevard College/IES Calamot) lead the FGCU offensive attack with 10 points each off a team-high-tying four goals and a pair of assists. Dennis Zapata (Orlando, Fla./University HS) – despite missing four matches with a hamstring injury – has produced a pair of goals and a team- and league-high-tying four assists.

 

LAST TIME OUT

The nation’s highest-scoring offense tallied the game-tying goal with 25 seconds remaining in regulation and then converted the game-winning goal with just 8 seconds left in the second overtime as #14 FIU handed FGCU a heartbreaking 4-3 loss Tuesday night at the FGCU Soccer Complex.

 

FGCU – which had its five-game winning streak and six-match unbeaten run snapped – looked poised to take down its second nationally-ranked opponent in a week as the Green and Blue opened up a 3-1 lead midway through the 2nd half.

 

However, the Panthers – who played the final five minutes of regulation and both 10-minute overtime sessions with 10 men – received the game-tying goal off the head of Marvin Hezel and the game-clinching strike off the foot of Alessandro Campoy against the run of play.

 

HIGHLIGHT-REEL FINISHES

Over the last few years, FGCU has turned in some highlight-reel goals which have garnered national attention. The most recent came last Tuesday night when freshman Kareem Riley (Couva, Trinidad and Tobago/Presentation College San Fernando) secured the No. 3 spot on SportsCenter’s Top 10 Plays for his incredible goal from about 40 yards. Riley sent a laser of a shot which stayed on line with the crossbar nearly the entire time before just dipping under the bar for his first collegiate goal and the eventual game-winner against #24 Omaha (watch the goal).

 

It’s the third time in the last 2+ seasons that the team has been featured on SportsCenter’s Top 10 Plays. The first was Preston Kilwien (San Francisco, Calif./College Park HS) (No. 3 on Sept. 10, 2015) and then Dylan Sacramento (Winnipeg, Manitoba/Bill Crothers S.S/York University) (No. 7 on Oct. 17, 2015).

 

LUCKY 100

With its 3-2 victory over #24 Omaha last Tuesday, FGCU secured its 100th all-time win. The Eagles are 101-67-25 (.588) in 10+ seasons, including a dominant 55-18-7 (.731) record in ASUN contests. Since the program’s first two seasons in 2007 and 2008, FGCU has posted a winning record each of the past eight years, including double-figure victory totals in half of those campaigns.

 

RECORD-SETTING 2016 CAMPAIGN

FGCU led the country in nearly every offensive category a season ago, including goals with 62 – nine more than any other team. The club reached record heights as it secured a program-record 14 wins.

 

The Eagles advanced to the NCAA Tournament Second Round for the first time after claiming a 3-0 triumph in penalty kicks at USF in the opening round following a 2-2 double-overtime tie. FGCU went on to face North Carolina, and the Green and Blue had a 2-1 lead until an 86th-minute goal by the Tar Heels. FGCU played the final 52 minutes of the match with 10 men, and UNC finally tallied a double-overtime goal to emerge victorious, 3-2. The Eagles return nearly every player from 2016, including 10 starters.

 

NATIONALLY RANKED

The Eagles began the year ranked #15 in College Soccer News Preseason Poll. It marked the fourth-straight season that FGCU has been nationally ranked. The Eagles finished last year #20 in the NSCAA Poll (now United Soccer Coaches) after being ranked for the final nine weeks of the season and climbing to a program-best #11 in mid-October.

 

FGCU NATIONAL RANKING HISTORY
10/5/2010: #25 Soccer America

10/12/2010: #24 Soccer America

10/14/2010: #24 Top Drawer Soccer

10/19/2010: #21 Soccer America

10/26/2010: #23 Soccer America

11/2/2010: #19 Soccer America

11/9/2010: #19 Soccer America

11/16/2010: #20 Soccer America (Final Poll)

8/2/2011: #14 Goal.com (Preseason Poll)

8/30/2011: #22 Goal.com

9/27/2011: #25 Goal.com

9/9/2014: #24 NSCAA and Soccer America

8/31/2015: #19 Top Drawer Soccer

10/13/2015: #22 Top Drawer Soccer

10/20/2015: #22 Top Drawer Soccer

9/27/2016: #15 NSCAA

10/4/2016: #12 NSCAA

10/11/2016: #12 NSCAA

10/18/2016: #11 NSCAA

10/25/2016: #20 NSCAA

11/1/2016: #22 NSCAA

11/8/2016: #21 NSCAA

11/15/2016: #18 NSCAA

12/13/2016: #20 NSCAA (Final Poll)

8/3/2017: #15 College Soccer News (Preseason Poll)

 

ALBERT RUIZ

Albert Ruiz (Barcelona, Spain/ CE L’Hospitalet/UE Cornella) missed the first eight games of the year with an injury, but returned last Tuesday against Omaha. In the three games since, he has recorded three points off a goal and an assist. Ruiz was named to the 2017 MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List as one of the nation’s top players after finishing runner-up for the equivalent of the Heisman Trophy a season ago. The lethal striker – who was also one of just three forwards on Top Drawer Soccer’s Preseason Best XI list – destroyed single-season program records in goals (22) and points (49) en route to being named an NSCAA First Team All-American – the first ASUN Conference representative since 1997.

 

The senior – the only unanimous selection to the ASUN Preseason All-Conference Team – scored five more goals and totaled nine more points than any other player in the country in 2016. He also led all Division-I players in goals per game (1.10; next closest: 0.89) and points per game (2.45; next closest: 1.95). By himself, Ruiz scored more goals than 74 teams – more than one-third of the 203 D-I men’s programs – and secured more points than 43 teams last season.

 

BUILDING A CHAMPIONSHIP PROGRAM

FGCU has produced six professional players – including two current MLS members in Rodrigo Saravia (Columbus Crew) and Aaron Guillen (FC Dallas) – and 63 ASUN All-Conference selections. In just six years of D-I postseason eligibility, FGCU has won four ASUN Tournament championships and made four NCAA Tournament appearances – in 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2016 – and won an unprecedented six-straight ASUN regular-season championships from 2010-15.

 

NEXT UP

FGCU will remain on the road and travel to Spartanburg, S.C., to face USC Upstate next Saturday, Oct. 21, at 7 p.m.

 

FGCU Career Records

	GOALS				POINTS
1	Albert Ruiz (14-Present)	31		1	Albert Ruiz (14-Present)	70
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	37
5	Arion Sobers-Assue (14-Present)	12		5	Josey Portillo (08-11)	31
	Scott Harrison (08-11)	12
	ASSISTS
1	Josey Portillo (08-11)	15
2	Arion Sobers-Assue (14-Present)	13
3	Francesco DiStefano (08-11)	12
4	Andres Navas (09-12)	11
5	Deion Jones (09-12)	10

 

FGCU Single-Season Records

	GOALS				POINTS
1	Albert Ruiz (2016)	22		1	Albert Ruiz (2016)	49
2	Arion Sobers-Assue (2016)	11		2	Arion Sobers-Assue (2016)	33
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
	ASSISTS
1	Arion Sobers-Assue (2016)	11
2	Josey Portillo (2011)	7
3	Deion Jones (2011)	6
	Donovan Henry (2010)	6
	William Morse (2011)	6

 

IRMA RELIEF DONATIONS

In the wake of Hurricane Irma, many individuals and families throughout Southwest Florida are still in desperate need of assistance. To aid in those relief efforts, FGCU Athletics will be collecting donations at all Eagle home games for the immediate future. Donation items most needed include: non-perishable food, clothing, household items and first-aid supplies. Additionally, those unable to attend upcoming home games can drop off donations in canisters located in the Alico Arena lobby. All donations will be given to those hardest hit in Lee and Collier counties.

 

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.

 

HEAD COACH JESSE CORMIER

Jesse Cormier was hired in January 2017 to become just the 2nd head coach in program history. The head coach at Vermont for the previous 13 seasons, Cormier won 14 games with the Catamounts in 2016 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament Second Round. During his time with Vermont, Cormier guided the program to the America East Tournament in 12 of 13 seasons, making five title game appearances, winning two tournament crowns, claiming a regular-season championship and advancing to three NCAA tournaments, including a pair of Second Round appearances. Cormier has a 120-93-48 (.551 winning percentage) overall record as a head coach.

 

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.