FORT MYERS, Fla. – It's a battle of I-75 rivals on Thursday night as South Florida pays the FGCU men's soccer program a visit on Pickering Field at the FGCU Soccer Complex. The Bulls (1-1-0) are on the road for the first time this season, while the Eagles (0-1-0) are looking to bounce back following a tough overtime loss this past Sunday to FIU.
Following the match-up with South Florida, the Eagles will remain at home to host Mercer on Sunday at 5 PM as part of a doubleheader with the women's team which hosts Florida at 1 PM. Tickets for all three matches can be purchased in advance by visiting
www.FGCUTickets.com, calling 866-FGCU-TIX, or visiting the Alico Arena Ticket Office. Tickets will also be available at the gate on game day.
All-time, the series is nearly equal with USF holding a slight 5-4-4 advantage after a 1-0 win in 2019. The last nine meetings have featured four draws with FGCU picking up three wins in the other five contests. Scoring has been nearly as equal with USF holding a 20-to-18 edge in goals throughout the 13 overall games.
Despite being former ASUN rivals, this will mark the first time since 2013 that FGCU and Mercer have met on the pitch. The Eagles hold a 7-1-1 overall record in the series including a 5-1-1 record when both teams were conference foes. FGCU has a 4-0-1 mark against the Bears at the FGCU Soccer Complex.
FGCU opened the season with a 1-0 overtime loss on Sunday to FIU in a match that was delayed for three hours due to lightning strikes in the area. Graduate
Gustavo Vasconcelos (Recife, Brazil/Colegio GGE) made a career-high 11 saves in goal before being sent off with a red card midway through the second half. His effort ranks as the second-most saves for a single game in the program's Division I history.
Sophomore
Darius Kerr-Cooper (Pickering, Ontario/St. Mary's HS) and graduate
Miles Robinson (Woodbridge, Va./Forest Park HS/Santa Clara/Portland) each had several dangerous attempts on target after the intermission, but were unable to find the go-ahead goal in regulation. Sophomore
Wyatt Kistner (Midlothian, Va./Cosby HS) saw his first career action in relief of Vasconcelos and was credited with a save in the match.
Overall, the Eagles have the bulk of its line-up back in place from last spring's abbreviated season following the postponement of the 2020 fall season. Along with Vasconcelos, who was named the league's Goalkeeper of the Year, senior
Ethan Dudley (St. Johns, Fla./Bartram Trail HS) anchors the defense as the reigning ASUN Defensive Player of the Year. The Eagles also have the ever-dangerous senior
O'Vonte Mullings (Toronto, Ontario/Northview Heights) who was the 2021 ASUN Player of the Year after scoring five goals last spring.
With 21 career goals, Mullings needs two more to tie Shak Adams for second all-time (23, 2016-19). Mullins also ranks 3
rd all-time in career points (48) needing 15 to surpass Adams there.
FGCU last hosted South Florida in Fort Myers on Sept. 15, 2018 – a 5-3 win for the Green and Blue where Adams posted a hat trick in the match.
USF enters the match coming off a 1-0 overtime loss of their own against UNC Wilmington. The Bulls opened the season with a 4-1 win over Jacksonville. South Florida entered the season ranked fourth in the AAC preseason coaches' poll.
The match-up also returns former FGCU head coach Bob Butehorn back to Fort Myers. Butehorn posted a 95-62-23 record, highlighted by four NCAA Tournament appearances, leading the Eagles in their first decade – a tenure which included a 52-18-7 mark in the ASUN and six regular-season titles.
Mercer enters the weekend 1-1 and will play at North Florida on Friday night before making the trip down to Fort Myers. The Bears defeated Gardner-Webb 4-0 to open the season before falling 1-0 against Georgia State last Sunday. Dylan Gaither notched three goals and an assist in the GWU win to lead Mercer with seven points early in the season.
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. You can also sign-up to have news on FGCU men's soccer and all 15 sport programs delivered directly to your inbox by visiting
www.fgcuathletics.com/email.
HEAD COACH JESSE CORMIER
Jesse Cormier enters his fifth year as head coach of the FGCU men's soccer program in the fall of 2021 after being hired in January of 2017 to become just the 2nd head coach in program history. Cormier has guided FGCU to a 29-23-11 (.547) 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 28 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 143-111-57 (.551) 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 14+ seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just nine seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 42 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 24 consecutive semesters. The 2019 Fall, 2020 Spring, 2020 Fall, and 2021 Spring semesters each saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher team GPA in each. 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.
--FGCUATHLETICS.COM--
