FORT MYERS, Fla. – For the 4th time in six seasons of Division-I postseason eligibility, the 2nd-seeded and #20 nationally-ranked FGCU men's soccer team (14-3-2) is heading back to the NCAA Tournament following a thrilling 3-2 victory over 5th-seeded Jacksonville (8-10-0) in the ASUN Championship Final Saturday night at the FGCU Soccer Complex.
 
Defender Eli Roubos scored twice, including the game-winner in the 82nd minute, as the Eagles established a single-season program record with their 14th victory.
 
FGCU will learn its NCAA Tournament opponent, seed and location on Monday, Nov. 14, at 1 p.m. Eastern when the selection show airs live on NCAA.com. The Green and Blue will be holding a public gathering in the Alico Arena Hospitality Suite. All NCAA First Round games will take place on Thursday, Nov. 17.
 
With the win over the Dolphins, FGCU unofficially moved up to No. 35 in the RPI – a key determining factor in the NCAA Men's Soccer Selection Committee's criteria when seeding the 48-team NCAA Tournament field.
 
Albert Ruiz continued his record-setting campaign as the junior expanded on his national goal lead with the first conversion of the night – and 20th of the year – to set to the tone for a back-and-forth evening in front of 1,163 vocal supporters at The Nest.
 
The striker found the back of the net in the 15th minute, but JU equalized in the 25th minute to make it 1-1. Not even 10 minutes later the Eagles regained the lead as Roubos (Toronto, Ontario/Oregon State/Northview Heights Secondary) finished his first of the night, and just the second – at that juncture – of the year for the center back. The score remained 2-1 into the closing 15 minutes, but JU again knotted the game in the 79th minute, setting the stage for Roubos's heroics only three minutes later.
 
The championship-winning goal came in nearly the exact same form as the second of the evening for the Green and Blue. It started off a corner by sophomore defender Preston Kilwien, who sent a perfect ball into the middle of box and on to the head of 6-4 Kamar Marriott, who sent it back across the box to the near post where Roubos finished just in front of the goal line.
 
"It's a real tribute to the guys to win the title this year when the conference has been this good," stated FGCU head coach Bob Butehorn in reference to the ASUN having four teams – more than half its men's soccer members – in the top 90 of the RPI and three in the top 50. "For us to hold the trophy up at this moment is a really proud time. The conference has made some really big strides and I'm thankful to win the title again. We've stepped up all year when we were challenged, and tonight was another one of those games and we delivered."
 
Since becoming postseason eligible for the 2011 season, FGCU has claimed four of the six ASUN Championship titles it has been a part of, going 8-2-0 in 10 contests. FGCU went 2-0 in 2011, 2012 and 2014 and again this year en route to those tournament crowns.
 
FGCU's eight ASUN Championship victories in only six seasons are more than any other current team in the league with the exception of Stetson – which has 10 victories and has been postseason eligible since 1985.
 
Ruiz (Barcelona, Spain/ CE L'Hospitalet/UE Cornella), who scored three goals in FGCU's two tournament games, claimed ASUN Tournament MVP honors. He was joined on the All-Tournament Team by Roubos, Marriott (Tampa, Fla./Heritage HS) and Miguel Jaime (Denver, Colo./Cherry Creek HS).
 
Ruiz opened the scoring in the 15th minute after a brilliant stop by JU keeper Patrick Harding, who set the all-time ASUN Championship record with 20 saves over its three matches.
 
The play started with a cross into the box from the left wing by Jiro Barriga Toyama (Chiba, Japan/Barton CC/Chibakennrituoihama HS) and was headed back into the 6-yard area by Justin Gavin (Brooklyn, N.Y./Eastern Florida State College/Treasure Coast HS) and on to the foot of Arion Sobers-Assue (Miami, Fla./DeMatha Catholic HS), who rifled a shot directly at Harding. The sophomore keeper made the save, but the balled careened off the crossbar and directly to Ruiz, who was placed at the near post and volleyed a one-timed effort from about 10 yards to become the first player in the ASUN to score 20 goals in a season since 2005.
 
JU had an answer shortly after, however, when Kai Bennett played a ball into space up the right flank and on to the run of Diego Sanchez. Sanchez took a couple of touches in open space and then sent a low shot from just outside the top of the box and past a charging Jared Brown in the 25th minute.
 
But the nation's most lethal offense once again responded, this time off a set piece in the 34th minute which served as a precursor for the game-winning strike. The same exact scenario played out, beginning with Kilwien (San Francisco, Calif./College Park HS) taking the corner and Marriott heading it to Roubos, but this time he finished with his head as opposed to his foot.
 
The Eagles took that 2-1 lead into the halftime break, but it was nearly a two-goal advantage. With just three seconds remaining in the opening 45, Sobers-Assue sent a curving shot off a free kick from about 20 yards off the crossbar.
 
FGCU maintained that 2-1 advantage into middle of the 2nd half, with neither keeper being tested too much until Brown (Aurora, Ontario/St. Maximilian Kolbe CHS) made a brilliant stop in the 59th minute. Bennett got free in the box and sent a low, driven shot from about 10 yards back across Brown's path, but the ASUN All-Freshman Team member dove to his right and with one hand made a punch save – arguably the most impressive and biggest stop of his young career.
 
The Green and Blue nearly had the insurance strike they were looking for in the 73rd minute. Just over a minute after re-entering the match, Robert Ferrer (Barcelona, Spain/Brevard College/IES Calmot) had a shot go off the crossbar.
 
That result ultimately allowed JU – playing in its first ASUN Championship Final since 2008 – to pull even five minutes later when Sanchez headed a ball into the box for Ejiroghene Mrabure, who delivered a low shot past a charging Brown.
 
But, once again the Eagles had a response as FGCU has now scored multiple goals in all but three games this year. The nation-leading attack has not been shut out all year for the first time in program history, and extended its goal lead to 58 and point lead to 167 – by far the most in single-season program history and also the most in the country by a large margin.
 
After losing the first three meetings against JU and being out-scored in that timeframe, 9-1, FGCU has now won the last eight in a row versus the Dolphins, out-scoring them in that timeframe, 23-7.
 
The win broke the previous FGCU single-season mark of 13 by the 2010 team. That squad finished 13-3-2 in the final year in which FGCU was ineligible for the postseason as it went through its D-I transition.
 
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 63 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 won an unprecedented six-straight ASUN regular-season championships from 2010-15. His teams have been ranked nationally on several occasions by multiple media outlets, including a program-record #11 NSCAA ranking in 2016. Now in his 14th season as a head coach, Butehorn has a 129-93-27 (.572) overall record, 95-61-23 (.595) mark in his 10th season at FGCU and 52-18-7 (.721) 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.