JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The No. 2 seeded FGCU men's soccer team (3-3-4) advances to its sixth ASUN Championship final with a 2-1 victory over the North Division's top-seeded Bellarmine Knights (4-4-0) Thursday evening at Southern Oak Stadium. The finals appearance will be FGCU's second-straight (2019).
The Eagles will face the winner of Jacksonville (No. 1 South seed)/Lipscomb (No. 2 North seed) Saturday night at 7 p.m. That match is taken place tonight.
"Tonight's game was a collective team effort; the amount of contribution we got from many of the guys was the difference," said head coach
Jesse Cormier. "The leadership was there and I thought the guys really prepared well, understood their opponent, and understood how we could take advantage of them. Obviously, we still have one more to go and we haven't achieved our goal, but we're much closer to it now than we were a few hours ago. We'll rest tomorrow and get right back after it Saturday."
Bellarmine was quick to strike first scoring in the eighth minute as the Knights quickly reset on a free-kick, crossing a pass behind the Eagles' backline for the one-time finish from Haziq Zed. FGCU though began to settle down and found its rhythm. Along the left-wing,
Trevin Myers (Lehigh Acres, Fla./Riverdale HS/Chowan University) sent a left-footed cross into the box for a diving
O'Vonte Mullings (Toronto, Ontario/Northview Heights) who headed it home for the equalizer - team-leading fifth goal.
FGCU produced two more shots before the break with Bellarmine up in that column, 6-3. The Green and Blue registered four corners in the first 45 minutes, compared to Bellarmine's two.
Three minutes into the second period,
Ethan Dudley (Jacksonville, Fla./Bartram Trail HS) produced FGCU's first shot attempt on target from outside the 18-yard box but the free-kick was corralled by the keeper to keep it 1-1. It remained a tightly contested battle over the next 30 minutes as Bellarmine outshot FGCU, 4-3, during that span. One of those shots from the Knights was a bicycle kick in the 74th minute, which was tipped away from keeper
Gustavo Vasconcelos (Recife, Brazil/Colegio GGE) at the top post.
The Eagles finally broke through in the 85th minute off a corner kick, their fifth and final of the night.
Timon Zech (Starnberg, Germany/Louisiana State College) sent a left-footed cross into the box as
Jahvanie Hammond (Lauderhill, Fla./Coral Glades HS) headed it to
Max Edwards Woodbridge, Va./Forest Park HS/Radford) who then headed it past the diving keeper for the game-winner. It was Edwards' first tally of the year.
FGCU produced eight shots (three on goal) with Dudley launching a game-high of three (one of frame). In net, Vasconcelos secured three saves.
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 is in his fourth year as head coach of the FGCU men's soccer program after being hired in January of 2017 to become just the 2nd head coach in program history. Cormier has guided FGCU to a 29-22-11 (.556) record overall, including a 15-5-4 mark (.708) in ASUN play. The Eagles have reached the ASUN Tournament semifinals for nine-straight seasons (every year of eligibility), as Cormier has coached 23 all-conference selections since his arrival (program-record 10 in 2017). Cormier was the head coach at his alma mater the University of 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 143-110-57 (.553) record as a head coach in his sixteen-plus seasons at the helm.
#FEEDFGCU
FGCU Athletics sponsors events in November and April 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.
ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 85 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 13+ seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just nine seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 40 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. Eight FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport - including women's basketball (No. 21, 2020-21), beach volleyball (No. 20, 2021) and both men's soccer (2018, 2019) and women's soccer (2018) as three of the most recent. In 2016-17, the Green and Blue posted a department-best sixth-place finish in the DI-AAA Learfield Directors' Cup and top-100 showing nationally, ahead of several Power-5 and FBS institutions. In 2018-19, the Eagles had an ASUN and state of Florida best seven teams earn the NCAA's Public Recognition Award for their Academic Progress Rate in their sport. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.50 GPA in the classroom in the fall 2020 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 23 consecutive semesters. The 2019 Fall, 2020 Spring, and 2020 Fall semesters each saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher team GPA. The Eagles also served an all-time high 7,200 volunteer hours in 2017 - being recognized as one of two runners-up for the inaugural NACDA Community Service Award presented by the Fiesta Bowl.
