EDMONTON, Alberta – Former FGCU men's soccer standout and 2015 Atlantic Sun Conference Goalkeeper of the Year Nathan Ingham has signed a professional contract with FC Edmonton of the North American Soccer League (NASL), becoming the third professional player from the Eagles' 2015 senior class.
 
A native of Keswick, Ontario, about an hour north of Toronto, Ingham is FGCU's all-time goals-against average leader, having played nearly 6,000 minutes in his career and boasting a miniscule 0.98 GAA. He also is the A-Sun's career shutout leader with 26. A two-time A-Sun First Team member, Ingham led the league in nearly every goalkeeping statistic the past two years and capped his time in the Green and Blue this past fall by being named to the NSCAA All-Southeast Third Team.
 
He becomes the third FGCU product from the most storied class in the program's still-young history to have the opportunity to play professionally as Rodrigo Saravia (Guatemala City, Guatemala/College Internacional Montessori) was selected with the 19th overall pick in the First Round of the MLS SuperDraft last week by Columbus Crew SC. Earlier in January, Aaron Guillen (El Paso, Texas/Coronado HS) signed a professional contract with FC Dallas as a homegrown player.
 
In addition to Ingham being lauded as the A-Sun Goalkeeper of the Year in 2015, Saravia was tabbed as the A-Sun Player of the Year and Guillen as the A-Sun Defensive Player of the Year.
 
"With Nate signing this professional deal, it caps off a fantastic senior year and career for him, and a brilliant senior class for our program," commented FGCU founding head coach Bob Butehorn. "I'm so happy and proud of what Nate has been able to accomplish. He, along with Rodrigo and Aaron, have trained so hard to have these opportunities. It's a testament to them and to our program."
 
Not only does Ingham own the program record for goals-against average and shutouts, he also leaves FGCU as the program's leader in career save percentage at 76.2 and is second in saves (205; Adam Glick: 260) and wins (30; Glick: 32). Ingham is one of only two keepers in the history of the A-Sun (since 1979) to finish their career with a goals-against average lower than 1.00 as he was second to only ETSU's Ryan Coulter (0.95 GAA).
 
"It's a lot to take in, honestly," said Ingham. "I'm leaving behind a pretty special place in FGCU where I've learned so much and which has served my path to being a professional soccer player. I'm really thankful that this opportunity has come for myself and also Aaron and Rodrigo. We talked about it before the season, and we said that our goal was to be pros come January and we'd love nothing more than to be sitting next to each other at the draft. We all ended up taking our own paths, but it's still a special feeling to share with teammates and obviously a huge accomplishment for the program.
 
"I'm on the edge of my seat waiting to get to Edmonton and starting this next chapter of my life," continued Ingham. "I'm extremely grateful for the time and effort Edmonton has already put in to me, and the fact that I'll be playing for a Canadian club is just a bonus."
 
By joining FC Edmonton, Ingham will be re-acquainted with former FGCU teammate Cristian Raudales as the Eddies' midfielder – then a senior – and Ingham – then a freshman – were both on the Eagles' first NCAA Tournament team in 2011. Raudales is still FGCU's all-time leader in points (43) and goals (19), and he started 22 of the 26 games he appeared in last year for FC Edmonton.
 
FC Edmonton is one of 12 teams in the NASL, which has franchises in Canada, the United States and Puerto Rico. Four of those dozen teams reside in Florida (Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Tampa and Jacksonville), giving fans several opportunities to potentially see Ingham in action.
 
This past year, Ingham played in 12 games (11 complete games as he missed two-and-a-half with an injury), and in those 11 contests he posted a league-leading seven shutouts. He led the A-Sun with a 0.73 goals against average – which was 22nd nationally and 0.60 better than anyone else in the conference.
 
He allowed nine goals all year, 13 fewer than any other goalkeeper in the league who played at least 1,000 minutes, and he did it competing against the best non-conference schedule in the A-Sun as FGCU faced three top-20 RPI opponents and two top-10 foes. He led the A-Sun with a save percentage of .800. His seven shutouts this past year were three more than anyone else in the A-Sun as Ingham set the all-time A-Sun career shutout record with his 26th in the regular-season finale. Additionally, he was named A-Sun Defensive Player of the Week on three occasions this past season and a record-tying six times in his career.
 
Prior to his redshirt senior season with the Eagles, Ingham jumpstarted his year by being named Tournament MVP as his K-W United FC club claimed the 2015 PDL Championship this summer. Ontario-based K-W (Kitchener-Waterloo) United defeated the New York Red Bulls U23 in the title match to capture its first PDL crown. Ingham earned a shutout in the semifinals and made several key saves – including a second-half penalty-kick attempt – in the final to preserve a one-goal victory.
 
The PDL (Premier Development League) is sponsored by the United Soccer League in the United States and Canada, and is widely considered the top-level men's amateur league in the U.S. with a plethora of former players going on to successful international professional careers – something which Ingham is now set up to do and something which was not lost on FC Edmonton head coach Colin Miller.
 
"I wanted a Canadian goalkeeper to get the opportunity for this position," stated Miller in a release. "Darren Woloshen (FC Edmonton goalkeeper coach) has done a bit of work on the recruitment of Nathan and has said his statistics were as good, if not the best in the PDL. Nathan has good size, he's done very well in his collegiate career and he's Canadian."
 
As a redshirt junior, Ingham was named to the A-Sun First Team and as the A-Sun Tournament MVP for the second time after not allowing a goal all championship. He tied his own program single-season record with nine shutouts – four more than anyone else in the A-Sun – and he led the A-Sun in goals against average (0.71), save percentage (.821) and saves (69).
 
Ingham utilized a redshirt season in 2013 after originally setting the program single-season shutout record as a sophomore with nine. During his freshman season, he started eight games and was named A-Sun Tournament MVP following a five-save effort which earned him his first career shutout in a 1-0 defeat of ETSU.
 
During his time on FGCU's beach-lined campus, Ingham led FGCU to A-Sun regular-season championships every year, three A-Sun Tournament titles and three berths in the NCAA Championship. In 2011, FGCU fell in double overtime at UCF, 1-0, the Eagles earned a 0-0 tie before failing to advance on penalty kicks at USF in 2012 and allowed a diving-header goal in the 86th minute in a 1-0 loss at Coastal Carolina in 2014. Ingham helped lead FGCU to a record of 46-30-14 over his five years with the Eagles, including a dominant 27-4-4 mark in conference games.

Ingham becomes the sixth FGCU product playing professionally, joining – in addition to the aforementioned players – Daniel Stanese of FC Augsburg II in Germany and Manny Gonzalez of the Fort Lauderdale Strikers in the NASL. Gonzalez spent 2008-10 with the Eagles, and Stanese signed professionally in February of 2013 following his freshman season with Germany's top-tier Bundesliga for FC Nuremberg. The feat is made even more impressive when considering the program's first season was only in 2007.
 
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 54 A-Sun All-Conference selections since FGCU started its program in 2007. In just five 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.