FORT MYERS, Fla. – The four-time defending Atlantic Sun Conference regular-season champion FGCU men’s soccer team (2-4-3, 1-0-0 A-Sun) kicks off its home league opener Saturday night at 7 as the Eagles face in-state foe Stetson (3-4-2, 1-0-0 A-Sun) at the FGCU Soccer Complex.

IN SHORT
FGCU and Stetson are two of just three A-Sun teams which have started the conference slate 1-0 as the Eagles downed Jacksonville Wednesday, 3-1, while the Hatters haven’t played since last Saturday when they beat UNF, 6-0.

HOME DOMINANCE
FGCU will be looking to extend one of the most dominant home-field advantages not only in the conference but across the nation. FGCU has not lost a home regular-season A-Sun game since 2008, a stretch of 23 in a row in which the Eagles are unbeaten (21-0-2). Included in that run is a 19-game winning streak, which was snapped in the second-to-last match last year when the Green and Blue tied Mercer, 0-0. FGCU’s last home regular-season loss came to Jacksonville, 2-0, on Oct. 19, 2008 – a stretch of 2,175 days.

WHAT TO KNOW
Saturday’s game against the Stetson Hatters is Mad Hatter Night as all fans in attendance are encouraged to wear a crazy hat. The crazier the hat the better as members of the FGCU Athletics Marketing & Promotions team will be awarding prizes for the best hats. Additionally, the FGCU volleyball team hosts Jacksonville at 6 p.m., and all fans will receive complimentary admission to the men’s soccer game with their volleyball ticket.

The game – presented by the Naples Daily News – will be video streamed free of charge by visiting ASun.TV or clicking on the links associated with this release. Live stats will also be available by following the attached link. FGCU students, faculty and staff are admitted free of charge with their Eagle ID, while adult tickets start at $6, a family pack (good for two adults and 3-5 children) is $18 and groups of 10 or more are $3. For additional ticket information, visit FGCUAthletics.com/Tickets.

Fans are encouraged to download the brand-new Wings Up mobile app in conjunction with SuperFanU prior to arriving at Saturday’s match. The fully-customized loyalty-rewards platform allows fans to check in at each of FGCU’s sporting events to earn points throughout the school year toward exclusive prizes that won’t be offered anywhere else.

LAST TIME THEY MET
A JJ Bostic goal in the closing 10 minutes gave Stetson a 2-1 win last year over FGCU – a victory which at the time snapped the Eagles’ seven-match unbeaten streak overall and 11-game unbeaten streak in regular-season league action dating back to 2012. Xavier Silva (Boca Raton, Fla./North Broward Prep) scored the Green and Blue’s lone goal in the 38th minute.

SCOUTING STETSON
Stetson snapped a five-game winless streak with its aforementioned 6-0 win over UNF last Saturday. The Hatters own a 2-1 win over FIU, while the Eagles fell at the Panthers, 2-1. Stetson’s 18 goals are the second-most in the A-Sun as the Hatters (50) are one of only two teams in the league (Lipscomb, 61) which have at least 50 points. Lucas Diniz is second in the league with a per-game shot average of 3.0, while Bostic’s 1.11 points-per-game average is tied for third in the conference. As a team the Hatters are called for the most fouls in the A-Sun, 13.33 per game, for a total of 120 on the year.

ALL-TIME SERIES
After Stetson won three-straight one-goal games against FGCU from 2007-09, the Eagles had won three in a row to tie the all-time series at 3-3 until last year’s setback. Overall, FGCU will be looking to equal the series at 4-4 with a win.

LAST TIME OUT
Despite an inauspicious start in which it surrendered an own goal just 16 seconds into the game, FGCU regrouped nicely, and on the strength of a dominant second half and freshman Arion Sobers-Assue’s (Miami, Fla./DeMatha Catholic HS) game-winning goal opened league play with a victory at Jacksonville Wednesday evening.

CLOSING IN ON RECORDS
Redshirt junior goalkeeper Nathan Ingham (Keswick, Ontario/Keswick HS), who missed most of last year with a concussion, has 13 career shutouts. He is just six shy of tying 2011 graduate Adam Glick’s program record for shutouts with 19. On the year there have been 12 shutouts recorded by A-Sun teams, and Ingham is responsible for 25 percent of those.

Felipe DeSousa (Tampa, Fla./Wharton HS), who is just a junior and already holds the program record for game-winning goals with seven, is closing in on the all-time goals record. He has 17 finishes in his career and needs just two to tie and three to break 2011 graduate Cristian Raudales’s record of 19. Additionally, DeSousa is chasing down Raudales’s career point record, which currently stands at 43.

THEY’RE BACK
FGCU scored 27 goals last season, and all 27 were from players who returned this year. The 100-percent return rate is the best in the country, tied with SIU Edwardsville which only scored 14 goals in 2013.

Highest Pct. of Goals Returning

1.    FGCU – 100.0 (27/27)

       SIU Edwardsville – 100.0 (14/14)

3.    Evansville – 97.1 (33/34)

4.    Syracuse – 96.7 (29/30)

5.    North Carolina – 89.5 (17/19)

6.    Missouri State – 88.2 (15/17)

7.    Virginia – 86.6 (39/45)

       Buffalo – 86.6 (13/15)

9.    NJIT – 84.0 (21/25)

       Duke – 84.0 (21/25)

11.  FIU – 81.5 (22/27)

12.  UAB – 81.4 (35/43)

13.  Cincinnati – 81.3 (13/16)

14.  Connecticut – 80.6 (29/36)

15.  South Carolina – 80.0 (20/25)

ATTENDANCE RECORD
FGCU’s 4,646 total home attendance through five games is already the second-most for a single season in program history. The Eagles, who average a conference-best 929 fans per game, should easily surpass the all-time single-season record of 4,955 fans from 2011 in which the Green and Blue hosted seven contests. FGCU still has at least four home matches remaining in the regular season, and would host the conference tournament if it earns the top seed.

In total, the A-Sun’s seven league members have accounted for 11,899 fans at 28 home matches so far this year. FGCU’s 4,646 total home attendance accounts for nearly 40 percent of the entire league’s attendance figure.

A-SUN DOMINANCE
In addition to FGCU’s home regular-season conference dominance (which stands at 23-4-3 all-time), the Eagles have an overall record of 29-3-2 in all A-Sun regular-season games since the start of the 2010 season. All three of those conference losses have come on the road, and out of a possible 102 points that could have been earned in that time, the Eagles have claimed an impressive 89 of them.

DEFENSIVE-MINDED
FGCU boasts the best defense in the A-Sun and one of the best defensive units in the entire nation. The Eagles lead the A-Sun in goals-against average (0.72), fewest goals allowed (7) and are tied with Jacksonville in shutouts (3). Nationally, FGCU ranks 30th in goals-against average, and its team save percentage of .816 is 35th-best in the country. If FGCU’s total goals allowed was doubled, the resulting 14 scores would be the same amount as the next closest team in the A-Sun (Lipscomb, 14).

Individually, Ingham has three shutouts to his name this year. His .811 save percentage easily leads the conference (no one else is even at .740), and he is the only goalie in the A-Sun with a goals-against average below 1.0. His 0.72 average is 35th in the nation, while his .811 save percentage is 39th in the country.

Looking closer at the goals FGCU has allowed this year, only two of the seven have come in the regular run of play. The other five have come in the form of an own goal, penalty kick, set-piece strike and two corners.

NOT FOR A LACK OF CHANCES
The FGCU offense broke out with a three-goal performance against Jacksonville Wednesday, something which had been a long time coming as it wasn’t for a lack of chances. The Eagles lead the A-Sun in shots with 148 while the next-closest team is Lipscomb with 130. Additionally, FGCU is tied with Stetson for the most corners in the league with 48.

DeSousa leads the A-Sun in shots per game at 3.62, while sophomore Isaiah Madrid (Albuquerque, N.M./Eldorado HS/Westminster) is second at 3.33 – two of only three players with at least a 3.0 average.

TURNING IT AROUND
A slow start by virtue of playing an extremely demanding non-conference schedule is nothing new for FGCU, and this year was no exception as head coach Bob Butehorn assembled the most difficult non-league docket in program history. Of the eight non-conference opponents FGCU has faced already, four were either nationally ranked or receiving votes in the national poll, while the other four had defeated nationally-ranked teams.

Below is FGCU’s record each season since 2010 before playing its first conference game and then its record for the remainder of the season following its first league contest:

2010: 4-2-2 > 10-1-1

2011: 3-2-2 > 9-4-0

2012: 3-4-1 > 8-2-1

2013: 2-5-1 > 6-2-1

2014: 1-4-3 > 1-0-0

Total: 12-13-6 > 33-9-3 (not including 2014)

Some of those opponents following FGCU’s first A-Sun match were not conference foes, but the Eagles have clearly used the non-league slate to help pave the way to their four straight A-Sun regular-season titles.

NEXT UP
FGCU will have a week off before returning to action next Saturday, Oct. 11, at Northern Kentucky University. The Eagles will then continue the long weekend road trip by heading to Louisville to battle the Cardinals – currently ranked No. 6 in the nation – on Tuesday, Oct. 14, in a non-league match. FGCU will next be in action at home on Tuesday, Oct. 21, for a non-conference tilt with FAU at 7 p.m.

For men’s soccer ticket information, visit the Alico Arena Ticket Office, call 239-590-7145 or log on to FGCUAthletics.com/Tickets. For up-to-the minute information and a behind-the-scenes look at the program, follow on Twitter @FGCU_MSoccer and Instagram @FGCU_MSoccer.

FGCU is led by Bob Butehorn, who has coached 30 A-Sun All-Conference selections since FGCU started its program in 2007. In just three years of postseason eligibility, Butehorn has guided FGCU to the NCAA Tournament twice – in 2011 and 2012 – and has won an unprecedented four-straight A-Sun regular-season championships. His teams have been ranked nationally on several occasions by multiple media outlets, and in 2013 he won his 100th career game.