MACON, Ga. – Following two shutouts last week, FGCU goalkeeper Nathan Ingham has been named the Atlantic Sun Conference Defensive Player of the Week for the second time this year, as announced by league officials for the final time this year on Sunday afternoon.
 
Ingham (Keswick, Ontario/Keswick HS) backstopped FGCU to a 0-0 tie at in-state foe UCF on Tuesday before blanking USC Upstate Saturday night, 1-0, in a victory which clinched a record 5th straight A-Sun regular-season championship for the Eagles. Over the two games, the redshirt junior keeper made 10 saves – seven against the Knights and three more against the Spartans – with several of those stops being extremely challenging.
 
With the 200 minutes of scoreless action over the last week, Ingham lowered his league-leading goals against average to 0.77 – 0.41 better than anyone else in the A-Sun. Ingham has played in every minute of every game this year as he has a save percentage of .811 – 0.66 better than any other A-Sun keeper – and his 60 saves on the campaign are the second-most in the league.
 
The honor is the third career A-Sun Defensive Player of the Week recognition for Ingham, who also won the season's first on Sept.1 after shutting out USF in the opener, 2-0. At that time, Ingham was the first FGCU player to win the league's Defensive Player of the Week award since he won it on Nov. 5, 2012.
 
Ingham now has seven shutouts to his credit this year, three more than any other A-Sun goalkeeper and two shy of tying his own single-season program record of nine during the 2012 season. He also now has 17 career shutouts, three short of breaking 2011 graduate Adam Glick's program record of 19.
 
The blanking of Upstate also extended an incredible streak as the Eagles have not allowed USC Upstate to score a single goal against them since 2008 – a stretch of six consecutive shutouts spanning six years. FGCU now owns a 7-0-1 all-time mark against the Spartans as all seven of the triumphs have been shutouts with the only two goals Upstate has scored against the Green and Blue coming in a 2-2 draw in 2008.
 
"Nate has been great for us all year and the honor is certainly well deserved," said head coach Bob Butehorn. "Additionally, the defense in front of Nate has supported him really well, and we're hoping to have that continue into the A-Sun Championship."
 
FGCU (6-6-5, 4-1-1 A-Sun) is the first program in the history of the A-Sun, which for men's soccer dates back to 1979, to claim at least a share of five straight regular-season titles as the Eagles split this year's honor with Lipscomb. With the triumph over USC Upstate, FGCU secured the No. 2 seed in next week's A-Sun Championship and a bye into the semifinal round on Friday, Nov. 14, where the Green and Blue will meet the winner of No. 3 Stetson vs. No. 6 Northern Kentucky in a game which will take place Wednesday, Nov. 12.
 
Lipscomb will host the A-Sun Championship by virtue of a 2-1 victory over FGCU last weekend as the Bisons and Eagles both wrapped up the campaign with 13 points. The Bisons, who received the other bye, will await the winner of No. 4 North Florida and No. 5 USC Upstate as that quarterfinal match will also take place in Nashville on Lipscomb's campus Wednesday. The A-Sun Championship final will be played Sunday, Nov. 16.
 
Additional A-Sun Championship information, including A-Sun postseason awards, will be released early next week. Stay tuned to FGCUAthletics.com for the latest news.
 
Since its run of regular-season crowns began in 2010, FGCU has an incredible overall record of 32-4-3 in all A-Sun regular-season games in that time. 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.
 
The victory over Upstate extended the nation's longest home conference regular-season unbeaten streak to 26 straight as FGCU is an incredible 23-0-3 against A-Sun opponents at the FGCU Soccer Complex in the regular season since 2008. Included in that run is a 19-game winning streak as FGCU's last home regular-season A-Sun loss came to Jacksonville, 2-0, on Oct. 19, 2008 – an incredible stretch of 2,210 days.
 
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 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.
 
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.