FORT MYERS, FL – The FGCU men's soccer team (1-2-0) went toe-to-toe with top-ranked Wake Forest (3-0-0) Saturday evening, bringing it to within one score with about 15 minutes left in regulation until a penalty kick by the visitors sealed the match as the Eagles fell, 3-1.
 
"I thought our guys battled back in the second half, and I'm very proud of their effort," said head coach Jesse Cormier. "Conceding early doesn't help, but we fought our way back into the game and I thought we deserved more. Overall I think we can compete with anybody in the country and if we clean up a few areas and we get better in certain ways, I think we can do a lot of things this year."

Not wasting any time, the ACC Player of the Week Bruno Lapa found the back of the net five minutes into the match to put Wake Forest ahead as the visiting side pushed its margin up 2-0 with a goal in the 42nd minute. After a sluggish first half, the Eagles quickly struck in the 50th minute with a tally off the foot of freshman O'Vonte Mullings (Toronto, Ontario/ Northview Heights Secondary) set up by fellow forward Shak Adams (Antioch, Tenn./Cane Ridge HS). FGCU stayed on the attack, finding more room in the final third of the field until a penalty kick awarded to the Deacs swung the momentum in their favor as they would hold onto to the 3-1 margin.

Wake Forest jumped to an early 1-0 advantage with Omir Fernandez maneuvering through the left side as he found room inside the five-yard box where he would cross a pass into Lapa for the one time touch. In the 11th tick, Kamar Marriott (Tampa, Fla./Heritage) nearly found FGCU's equalizer but his header from 15-yards out was just over the top woodwork. Continuing to press, Mullings had an opportunity two minutes later but the right-footed strike proved to be wide right.
Nearing the end of the first period, the Demon Deacons went into the locker room with momentum after a goal from Machop Chol was buried in the 42nd (2-0) off a give and go from 18-yards out.

With only four shots in the first half, an aggressive Green and Blue attack to start the second period woke up the offense. Following an interception by Adams near midfield, the junior worked around two defenders finding Mullings to his left. He then dribbled to the 18-yard box and rifled a shot over the keeper's left shoulder for his third goal of the year. The Toronto native looked for the tie two minutes later but would be denied on both occasions.

After keeper Connor Gavigan (Aurora, Colo./Grandview/Creighton) kept Wake Forest off the board in the 61st and 65th, a foul inside his own box 10 minutes later went against FGCU. Lapa converted the penalty shooting to Gavigan's left to put his team up 3-1.

Down the final 10 minutes, the Eagles sent numbers in an attempt to cut the two-goal deficit, collecting a pair corner kicks and five shots as they would fall 3-1 in the home-opener to the #1 team in the nation.

FGCU finished the match outshooting Wake Forest 12-11, with five coming on frame while Gavigan recorded four saves in the losing effort.

UP NEXT
FGCU is off until next Friday, Sept. 7 when the team travels to Statesboro, GA to take on Georgia Southern (2-0-1) at 7 p.m.

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.
 
HEAD COACH JESSE CORMIER
Jesse Cormier guided FGCU to an 8-6-3 (4-1-1 ASUN) record in his 1st season with the team in 2017. The Eagles reached the ASUN Tournament semifinals for the 7th-straight season (every year of eligibility), and Cormier coached a program-record 10 all-conference selections. Hired in January of 2017 to become just the 2nd head coach in program history, Cormier was the head coach at Vermont for the previous 13 seasons. He won 14 games with the Catamounts in 2016 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament Second Round. During his time with Vermont, Cormier guided the program to the America East Tournament in 12 of 13 seasons, making five title game appearances, winning two tournament crowns, claiming a regular-season championship and advancing to three NCAA tournaments, including a pair of Second Round appearances. Cormier holds an overall 123-97-50 (.562) record as a head coach.

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.