Ingham Named A-Sun Defensive Player of Week

November 2, 2015

MACON, Ga. – Following his seventh shutout of the year on Saturday and record-setting 26th of his career, FGCU goalkeeper Nathan Ingham has been named the Atlantic Sun Men’s Soccer Defensive Player of the Week for a record-tying sixth time, league officials announced Monday afternoon.

Ingham (Keswick, Ontario/Keswick HS) made three saves and defended seven corners as FGCU went on the road and defeated RPI No. 36 UNC Wilmington, 1-0. The clean sheet propelled Ingham to the top of the all-time A-Sun list for career shutouts, surpassing Ryan Coulter, who played for former league member ETSU from 2011-13.

Coulter is also one of four players (now five) in the history of the league – which started issuing weekly awards in 1992 – to have been named A-Sun Defensive Player of the Week six times. One of those five is former FGCU goalkeeper Adam Glick as the Eagles – who have only been league members since 2007-08 – are the only school in the history of the A-Sun with two players who have earned Defensive Player of the Week accolades on six occasions. The other two are former A-Sun members: Aaron Johnson (Campbell) and Anders Granstad (FAU).

With the shutout against UNCW – which advanced to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament last year – to end the regular season, Ingham lowered his league-leading goals against average to a miniscule 0.44 which ranks tied for sixth in the nation and nearly a full goal lower than the next-closest A-Sun keeper. Ingham is on pace to shatter the A-Sun single-season record for goals against average as the current mark is 0.61 held by Centenary’s Damin Hill in 1987.

Additionally, while Ingham surpassed Coulter for the shutout record on Saturday, he also moved further in front of him for the conference’s best career goals against average. Ingham now boasts a 0.93 goals against average for his career, ahead of Coulter’s record mark of 0.95.

One year after leading the A-Sun in nearly every goalkeeping statistic, Ingham is again pacing the conference by wide margins in goals against average, shutouts (three more than anyone else) and save percentage (.872, .119 better than anyone else). Ingham ranks seventh in the country in save percentage and is easily on pace to set the FGCU single-season program record in that category as well.

While the Defensive Player of the Week is the third such honor for Ingham this year – which also ties an A-Sun single-season record – it marks the fifth occasion this season FGCU has claimed the award, setting the league record for most times one team has received the recognition. In addition to Albert Ruiz (Barcelona, Spain/UE Cornella/CE L’Hospitalet) claiming A-Sun Player of the Week honors last Monday, it’s the sixth overall weekly honor FGCU has been issued this year:

Sept. 14: Preston Kilwien (Defensive)
Sept. 28: Sawyer Jackman (Defensive)
Oct. 5: Nathan Ingham (Defensive)
Oct. 19: Nathan Ingham (Defensive)
Oct. 26: Albert Ruiz (Player)
Nov. 2: Nathan Ingham (Defensive)

FGCU, which has an official RPI of 31, concluded the regular season with a 7-3-3 record overall and claimed a share of an unprecedented sixth-straight A-Sun regular-season championship with a 4-0-1 league mark.

The Eagles are the No. 1 seed in the upcoming A-Sun Championship, which gets underway Thursday, Nov. 5, at 7 p.m. as the FGCU Soccer Complex will serve as host of the match featuring No. 4 seed USC Upstate vs. No. 5 seed Jacksonville. The winner of that contest will then face FGCU in a semifinal at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 7.

UNF will host the other semifinal against No. 3 seed Lipscomb that same night. The final is set for Saturday, Nov. 14, at 7 p.m. on the campus of the highest remaining seed. For more information regarding the A-Sun Championship, visit FGCU’s Tournament Central Page by clicking here. Additional information regarding the tournament and postseason awards will be announced later this week on FGCUAthletics.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 45 A-Sun All-Conference selections since FGCU started its program in 2007. In just four years of postseason eligibility, Butehorn has guided FGCU to three A-Sun Tournament championships and NCAA Tournament appearances – in 2011, 2012 and 2014 – and has won an unprecedented six-straight A-Sun regular-season championships. His teams have been ranked nationally on several occasions by multiple media outlets. Now in his 13th season as a head coach, Butehorn has a 115-90-25 (.554) overall record, 81-58-21 (.572) mark in his 9th season at FGCU and 48-17-6 (.718) record in A-Sun 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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