MIAMI, Fla. – FGCU men's soccer (6-3-4, 2-1-3 ASUN) battled against 2021 NCAA Tournament First Round team, FIU (9-4-1, 4-2-1 AAC) for 81 minutes before allowing a goal to break the 2-2 draw and drop a 3-2 decision on Tuesday evening. The loss is the first for the Eagles in its last five games. 

 "I'm proud of our team tonight, we had many key guys missing, and came into a very hostile environment," said head coach Jesse Cormier. " After a tentative start, we built belief, and collective ideas as the game progressed. I though FIU was very fortunate to get the result, but we will use this game to help us prepare for what's next in the conference as we move to compete to qualify for postseason and achieve our season goals."
 
Overall, the Panthers outshot the Eagles, 14-4, while having six shots on goal to FGCU's two. Florida International had an 8-0 advantage on corner kicks.

Graduate forward Aedon Kyra (Sydney, Australia/UNLV) scored the first goal for the Eagles and his fourth for the season in the 53^rd minute from an assist by freshman defender Nadav Ohayon (Herzliya, Isarel). Sophomore forward Pau Santanach (Barcelona, Spain) delivered the final goal for the Eagles and his first career goal.
Marcelo Gonzalez (Monterrey. Mexico) played his first game of the season in net, allowing two goals while making two saves.

In the first half, the Panthers outshot the Eagles 2-1 before getting on the scoreboard in the 27^th minute as Stephen Afrifa scored to give FIU the 1-0 lead. The Panthers took three more shots but the Eagles defense denied all and went into the half down by one.
In the second half, even though FIU took two shots, FGCU got the job done as Ohayon crossed the ball to Kyra, who buried the ball to the right side of the net to even the game 1-1 early in the second half.

Florida International responded in the 72^nd minute as Bernando Dos Santos scored to regain a 2-1 lead for the Panthers. The Eagles kept pressing on and Santanach took the shot himself skillfully and the ball hit the inner side of the goal post and rolled into the goal to once again tie the game, 2-2 in the 81^st minute.

With less than nine minutes left of the Florida rivalry, FIU was given a penalty kick and Dos Santos delivered to take a 3-2 advantage and win the game.

The Eagles are currently in third spot in the ASUN with the conference tournament featuring only the top six teams. FGCU sits behind 10^th-ranked Lipscomb and Central Arkansas, ranked 28^th in the RPI.

The Eagles will return to action on Saturday, October 29 as they take on Lipscomb (11-1-2, 6-1-2 ASUN) on Senior Day at Pickering Field. Kick off is at 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.
  
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 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 39-33-16 (.521) record overall, including a 21-10-6 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 153-122-62 (.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--