CONWAY, Ark. – FGCU men's soccer (4-2-4, 1-1-3 ASUN) earned a 2-2 draw against 2021 ASUN Tournament finalist and 23rd RPI ranked Central Arkansas (5-4-3, 4-1-1 ASUN) on Sunday evening at the Bill Stephens Soccer Stadium.

The match was originally scheduled for yesterday but was postponed due to inclement weather. This is the third tied game for the Eagles in the ASUN and the fourth overall.

Senior midfielder Davi Alves (Belo Horizonte, Brazil/ West Florida) scored the first goal of the game and his fourth for the season with a penalty kick. Freshman Jacob Tatebe (Warren, Ohio/Warren Harding HS) delivered the second equalizing goal for the Eagles and the first of his career.

"Our lack of discipline makes it very hard on everyone and has all season.  We've had far too many moments this season that require a higher level of intellect and collective poise to play our game and be the best version of ourselves. Playing down are a hindrance and detrimental to our team performance " said head coach Jesse Cormier. "In saying that, the character of the guys to play sixty-five minutes down a man and down a goal to battle back and find the equalizer was impressive. Many stepped up to ensure we got the point tonight, defensively Deon Travis was immense, and freshman Jacob Tatebe stepped up and was exceptional on the free kick."

Overall, UCA narrowly outshot FGCU 13-12 while having seven shots on goal to the Eagles three. The Bears also had a close 5-4 advantage on corner kicks.

Graduate student Shandel Senior (Kingston, Jamaica/Daytona State) picked up a red card in the 21^st minute and was ejected from the game.

Sophomore goalkeeper Wyatt Kistner (Midlothian/Va. /Cosby HS) allowed two goals, while making five saves for the evening.

Jovoney Brown (Savanna-La-Mar, Jamaica/North Florida) nearly gave the Eagles the lead in the 4th minute as he drove the ball to the middle of the net but it was too high before taking another shot that grazed the crossbar at the 12^th minute.

Alves capitalized in the 21^st minute after being fouled and showed why he leads FGCU in goals as he buried the ball to the lower right side of the net and give the Eagles a1-0 advantage. A crucial moment arose 11 seconds later as Senior was ejected from the game and the Eagles had 10 men to continue the ASUN battle.

The Bears fired two shots on goal but only to see them corralled by Kistner until the 33^rd minute as there was a misplay by the Eagles that led to Bernard Assibey-Rhule scoring and tying the game 1-1.
UCA's Daniel Shabani took the final shot of the half, but Kistner saved it to send the teams to the locker room tied.

In the second half, FGCU came out firing as Alves took a shot at the 46^th followed by Brown in the 56^th and junior defender Anothy Rowan (Connellsville, Pa./Marshall) in the 58^th but none connected.
The Bears took charge in the 71^st minute as Andreassen Sebastian received a cross from Mathias Bendiksen and scored with a header to take the 2-1 advantage.

The Eagles responded as Tatebe capitalized on a free kick and buried the ball in the right side of the net with such power and speed giving the goalkeeper no chance to save it.

With the game tied at 2-2 FGCU had two final shots as Alves had a high shot that did not connect at the 80^th minute followed by Brown driving the ball to the left side of the net that CJ Pycior corralled in the 83^rd minute.

Central Arkansas took the last shot of the game with Andreassen's shot landing just left of the net to end the 2-2 draw.

FGCU will return home to Pickering Field for the first time since Hurricane Ian on Tuesday, Oct, 18 to take on Florida Atlantic. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

Hurricane Ian Recovery
For information on how you can help out in the Hurricane Ian recovery efforts, please visit fgcu.edu/HurricaneIan.
  
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HEAD COACH JESSE CORMIER
Jesse Cormier is in his sixth year as head coach of the FGCU men's soccer program in the fall of 2022 after being hired in January of 2017 to become just the 2nd head coach in program history. Cormier has guided FGCU to a 37-33-16 (.521) record overall, including a 20-10-6 mark (.667) in ASUN play. The Eagles have reached the ASUN Tournament semifinals for nine of 10 seasons (every year of eligibility but one), as Cormier has coached 31 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 151-122-62 (.547) record as a head coach in his 16-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 92 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 15 seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just 11 seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 45 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. In 2022, the men's golf team became the first program to earn at at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament. Eight FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport - including women's basketball (No. 20, 2021-22), beach volleyball (No. 20, 2022) and both men's soccer (2018, 2019) and women's soccer (2018) as four 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 26 consecutive semesters. The past five semesters (Fall 2019 – Spring 2022) saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher cumulative 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.
 
--FGCUATHLETICS.COM--