NASHVILLE – On the strength of a Will Suedois goal, the FGCU men's soccer team (8-6-5) claimed its third Atlantic Sun Conference Championship in the last four years as the 2nd-seeded Eagles defeated 4th-seeded North Florida (8-7-1) Sunday afternoon at Lipscomb University, 1-0.
 
With the win, FGCU advances to its third NCAA Tournament in only four seasons of Division-I postseason eligibility. FGCU will open its 2014 NCAA Tournament with a First Round game on Thursday, Nov. 20. The Eagles will learn their opponent and destination when the Men's Soccer Selection Show airs on NCAA.com Monday at 1 p.m.
 
By virtue of not allowing a goal the entire A-Sun Championship, goalkeeper Nathan Ingham (Keswick, Ontario/Keswick HS) was named the Tournament MVP for the second time in his career as the redshirt junior also earned the honor as a freshman in 2011. In addition to Ingham, FGCU also placed Suedois (Nice, France/Florida Virtual School), Santiago Echeverri (Medellin, Colombia./Celebration HS) and Felipe DeSousa (Tampa, Fla./Wharton HS) on the All-Tournament Team as Echeverri and DeSousa scored the Eagles' goals in the semifinal.
 
Playing out of a recently-implemented 5-3-2 formation for FGCU, Suedois netted his championship-clinching goal in the 35th minute by pushing forward out of his right back position. The sophomore navigated around several UNF defenders before cutting across the top of the box and firing a left-footed shot from the 18 which beat A-Sun Goalkeeper of the Year Kyle Nasta to his right.
 
"I'm tremendously proud of the guys for winning another A-Sun Championship and I couldn't be happier for them," said head coach Bob Butehorn. "It's been a tough season for us, but we pulled together when we needed to and reached another one of our goals for the year."
 
The win for FGCU avenged a 2-1 loss in the A-Sun Championship semifinals last year at the hands of UNF. The Eagles are now one of just five schools in A-Sun history with three championship titles, and despite only having the opportunity to go to the NCAA Tournament four times, FGCU is now tied for the second-most NCAA Tournament appearances in A-Sun history, behind only the four which former member FIU had in the 1990s.
 
FGCU dominated UNF throughout the day as temperatures hovered in the upper-30s and rain made the pitch difficult to play on at times. UNF entered the match with the nation's 11th-best offense, averaging 2.07 goals per game, but FGCU's stalwart defense – which came into the game 19th in the country with a 0.73 goals against average – proved to be the deciding factor.
 
UNF had out-scored its first two opponents in the A-Sun Championship by an 8-0 margin, and over their past three games the Ospreys had out-scored their opponents, 12-0. However, not only did FGCU not allow a goal, the Eagles didn't even allow UNF to attempt a shot until the 56th minute of the game. The Ospreys attempted four of their seven shots for the day in the closing 18 minutes, with the best effort hitting the post in the 72nd minute.
 
With the shutout, Ingham ties his own single-season clean sheet record as the blanking was his ninth of the season – four more than anyone else in the A-Sun. Ingham needed to make just two saves as his equally-impressive backline helped lower the netminder's goals against average to 0.69 – by far the best in the conference and 19th-best in the nation.
 
The shutout also tied Ingham with 2011 graduate Adam Glick for FGCU's career record of 19. While Ingham has the individual numbers to back up the great defensive season, his backline and midfield has been just as important as FGCU has now shut out its last four opponents and hasn't allowed a goal in 410:29, dating back to a second-half goal by Lipscomb on Nov. 1.
 
FGCU tried to establish its dominance early as the Eagles fired shots often before Suedois finally broke through with what was not only his first goal of the season, but also his first shot on goal all year. In the 55th minute DeSousa was taken down in the box but no penalty was given as it could have potentially provided an insurance goal the Eagles didn't end up needing. For the contest, FGCU had a 12-7 shot advantage and a 5-2 edge with shots on target, and that overall edge was at one point 12-3 before the aforementioned four shots by UNF in the closing 18 minutes.
 
The lone unfortunate situation for FGCU came in the 80th minute when Echeverri was issued a straight red card after trying to make a play on a ball in the box. Despite what appeared to just be two players battling for a loose ball, the forward slid to try and cross the ball while UNF's keeper was sliding himself to try and collect the ball and was carded. Not only did the Eagles have to play the final 10 minutes of the game down a man, but Echeverri will be also suspended for the first NCAA Tournament game.
 
The A-Sun tournament championship for the men's soccer program adds to FGCU's impressive list of league titles as FGCU now has 40 conference tournament or regular-season championships since joining the A-Sun in 2007-08. Additionally, the Eagles swept the A-Sun men's and women's soccer tournament championships for the third time in four years as the women's program dropped a hard-fought home NCAA Tournament match to Auburn Saturday night, 1-0.
 
GAME NOTES: The matchup marked the first time in A-Sun Championship history that a No. 2 seed and No. 4 seed had ever met (dating back to 1979) … FGCU is now 6-1 all-time in A-Sun Championship action … Nasta made four saves for the Ospreys … DeSousa posted a game-high four shots, including two on frame … the A-Sun single-season goals against average record is 0.61, a number Ingham (0.69 currently) could reach with a couple more shutouts.
 
2014 Atlantic Sun Men's Soccer All-Tournament Team
Nathan Ingham, FGCU - Championship MVP
Felipe DeSousa, FGCU
Santiago Echeverri, FGCU
Will Suedois, FGCU
Kyle Nasta, North Florida
Milan Kovacs, North Florida
Jay Bolt, North Florida
Diogo Quirino, North Florida 
Ivan Alvardo, Lipscomb
Cian McDonald, Northern Kentucky
Ian O'Reilly, Northern Kentucky
 
THE STREAK
FGCU owns the longest home regular-season conference unbeaten streak in the nation. FGCU has not lost a home regular-season A-Sun game since 2008, a stretch of 26 in a row in which the Eagles are unbeaten (23-0-3). 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 A-Sun loss came to Jacksonville, 2-0, on Oct. 19, 2008 – an incredible stretch of 2,215 days.
 
A-SUN DOMINANCE
FGCU has an incredible overall record of 32-4-3 in all A-Sun regular-season games since the start of the 2010 season. All four of those conference losses have come on the road, and out of a possible 117 points that could have been earned in that time, the Eagles have claimed an impressive 99 of them.
 
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 and Instagram @FGCU_MSoccer.
 
COACH BUTEHORN
FGCU is led by Bob Butehorn, who has coached 38 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 five-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.
 
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.