Matchup: FGCU (6-2-1, 1-0-0 ASUN) @ Rutgers (0-6-1, 0-3-1 BIG TEN)
When: Tuesday, Sept. 27 | 7 PM | Piscataway, N.J.
Links: Video | Stats | Twitter
Coaches: Bob Butehorn (10th Season @ FGCU, 87-60-22; 14th Overall, 121-92-26) | Dan Donigan (7th Season @ Rutgers, 46-61-13; 16th Overall, 164-103-35)

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Riding the second-longest winning streak in the nation and possessing the country’s top-ranked offense, the FGCU men’s soccer team continues its New Jersey road trip Tuesday night at 7 against Rutgers.

OPENING KICK
FGCU’s six-game winning streak is just one behind Loyola Chicago and Butler for the longest in the nation. The Eagles lead the country in goals with 25 and points with 70 as FGCU has scored 14 times in its last three games – a 5-0 shutout over now #13 UNCW, a 5-1 triumph against FAU and a 4-1 ASUN-opening win Saturday at NJIT.

Rutgers enters the match winless, but the Scarlett Knights have played statistically the 5th-hardest schedule in the nation to this point as RU’s opponents have a combined winning percentage of .710. Five of Rutgers seven opponents have been nationally ranked at the time of the match, and the other two were Michigan State and Ohio State. Rutgers is coming off a 0-0 double-overtime tie with #4 Indiana Friday night.

AMONG THE NATION’S & SOUTHEAST’S BEST
The Eagles enter the match receiving votes in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Poll for the second time this year as FGCU picked up 17 points to effectively rank 32nd in the country. The Eagles are ranked #3 in the NSCAA Southeast Region Poll – one of three ASUN members represented in the region, with the others being North Florida at #5 and Lipscomb at #9. The new NSCAA polls for this week will be released Tuesday afternoon.

INSIDE THE STREAK
This is FGCU’s longest winning streak since it rattled off six in a row in the middle of the 2013 season. The program record is eight-straight victories, set in 2010 and again in 2012. Additionally, the Eagles have posted five-straight victories against non-conference opponents – the longest run in program history.

After starting the season 0-2-1, FGCU has outscored its opponents 21-5 during its winning streak. The Green and Blue have posted at least four goals in three-straight games for the first time in program history, and FGCU has also had three-different players secure five or more points in each of those contests: Albert Ruiz (program-record 7 points vs. UNCW), Arion Sobers-Assue (6 points vs. FAU) and Dylan Sacramento (5 points at NJIT).

OFFENSIVE EXPLOSION
In addition to the goal and point totals, FGCU ranks in the top-10 nationally in total assists (7th, 20) and shots on goal per game (10th, 7.33). Individually, junior Ruiz (Barcelona, Spain/ CE L’Hospitalet/UE Cornella) is 4th in the country in goals with eight and 4th in the nation in points with 19. Ruiz – who is the ASUN’s active career leader in goals (16) and points (37) – has already set the FGCU single-season program record for goals and points with still half the regular season to play (additional FGCU records at the end of this release).

HAT TRICK PARTY
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 on Saturday, Sept. 17, when Ruiz tallied three goals in only 50 minutes against UNCW. It then took just three more days for the third hat trick in program history to occur as redshirt sophomore Sobers-Assue (Miami, Fla./DeMatha Catholic HS) netted three opposite FAU on Tuesday, Sept. 20.

The Eagles nearly had their third hat trick in as many games Saturday, Sept. 24, at NJIT, but senior Sacramento (Winnipeg, Manitoba/York University/Bill Crothers S.S.) finished with two goals after scoring in the 18th and 42nd minutes.

SCOUTING RUTGERS
Tuesday will represent the first meeting all-time between FGCU and Rutgers. While Rutgers has played a robust schedule so far this year which includes (national ranking at the time of the game) #7 Creighton (2-0), #20 Denver (1-0), #19 Charlotte (5-0), #4 Maryland (2-1, OT) and #4 Indiana (0-0, 2OT), the Scarlett Knights have been outscored on the season, 17-2.

Rutgers is coming off a 12-7-2 campaign in 2015 which saw the Scarlett Knights reach the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament and the Big Ten Tournament semifinals. RU lost just five letterwinners from that team, but four were starters.

Goalkeeper David Greczek is currently 2nd all-time at Rutgers in saves (311), and among all active Division-I players he is the career leader in saves and is 3rd in saves per game (4.78). He is coming off a season-high nine-save performance against Indiana.

STANDOUT PERFORMANCE
Following a four-goal week in which he tallied both game-winners, Sobers-Assue was named the ASUN Player of the Week on Monday, in addition to being named to the College Soccer News National Team of the Week. Sobers-Assue now ranks 2nd in the ASUN this year in goals (six) and points (13) behind only teammate Ruiz.

The ASUN Player of the Week honor is the first of Sobers-Assue’s career, and he is the second FGCU member to earn the award in as many weeks as Ruiz claimed it last Monday along with goalkeeper Sawyer Jackman (Chicago, Ill./St. Charles East HS) as the ASUN Defensive Player of the Week. It’s just the third time in program history that FGCU has won ASUN Player of the Week honors in consecutive weeks, with the other occurrences coming in 2013 (Felipe DeSousa and Henry Penagos) and 2010 (Deion Jones and Scott Harrison).

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.

ASUN DOMINANCE
While the Eagles will be stepping out of league play against Rutgers, FGCU owns a dominant 37-4-4 record in all ASUN regular-season games since the start of the 2010 season. All four of those losses have come on the road, and out of a possible 135 points that could have been earned in that time, the Eagles have claimed an impressive 115 of them (85.2 percent) en route to an unprecedented six-straight ASUN regular-season titles.

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 will have a week off before returning to action at cross-state foe FIU on Tuesday, Oct. 4, at 7 p.m. The Panthers are 3-4-1 on the year following a tough 2-1 overtime loss to #5 Charlotte on Saturday. FIU travels to New Mexico to face the #21 Lobos on Friday night.

FGCU Career Records

FGCU Single-Season Records

TICKET INFORMATION
Single-game tickets are available for all remaining home games. 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. or log on to FGCUTickets.com.

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 121-92-26 (.561) overall record, 87-60-22 (.580) mark in his 10th season at FGCU and 49-17-6 (.722) 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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