FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU men's soccer team (7-3-4, 3-1-3 ASUN) delivered a goal in the second half on Saturday evening to defeat No. 10 Lipscomb (11-2-2, 6-1-0 ASUN) with a 1-0 decision and take its third top-10 win in history. The Eagles defeated No.5 Ohio State 1-0 in 2010 and No.8 UCF 2-1 in 2011. This is also the Blue and Green's 7^th ranked win in program history.

With the victory, the Eagles are back in the win column, while the Bisons suffer their first league loss of the season, which is also the first defeat for the last seven games they played. FGCU is only the third league school this season to score on the Bisons and most importantly Florida Gulf Coast is the only school to earn a shutout victory on Lipscomb.

Graduate student Aedon Kyra (Sydney, Australia/UNLV) scored the only goal of the match and sent fans and especially senior night parents in a frenzy in the 49^th minute.

"We had a tough test tonight, Lipscomb tested us on many occasions, but we felt coming in we could rise to the challenge and find success in this game," said head coach Jesse Cormier. " Our attack had them on edge early, and we dominated long stretches in possession and our defense had the controlled aggression we needed. So happy for our senior players who can have this great memory and win in their final home game."

Overall, FGCU outshot the Bisons, 14-10 while being even with shots on goal at four and tied with seven corner kicks. This was the Eagles first win over Lipscomb since October, 5 2019.

Wyatt Kistner (Midlothian, Va./Cosby HS) earned the incredible clean sheet which is his sixth for the season with four saves.


In the first half, Davi Alves (Belo Horizonte, Brazil/West Florida) wasted no time as he was given an opportunity and fired the ball to the right side of net but it was off target.

From there the Eagles attempted to get on the scoreboard firing five shots to the Bisons three from five different players but none connected. Lipscomb's Hayes Wood took the final shot of the half in the 32^nd minute but it was off target.From there, defense ruled as both teams were restricted on shots and went to the half scoreless.

The second half started and the moment of the night arose for the Eagles as the seniors teamed up with graduate defender Shandel Senior (Kingston, Jamaica/ Daytona State) crossing the ball to Kyra who buried the ball in the left side of the net in the 49^th minute.

Lipscomb's goal keeper and leader for goals against average in the ASUN, Michael Shelby was stunned and given no chance to react as the Eagles took a 1-0 lead. That was Kyra's fifth goal of the season and Senior's first assist.

From there Florida Gulf Coast was in search of another goal to seal the victory as Kyra and Alves drove back-to-back shots that were off target in the 53^rd and 54^th minute, respectively.

The Bisons started pressing for an equalizing goal and fired off four shots that included one from ASUN goal scoring leader Jelldrick Dallmann in the 78^th minute but Kistner showed why he was named ASUN Goalkeeper of the Week on Tuesday and stretched his hands to the top of the goal post to corral it.

Senior took the final shot of the night in the 89^th minute with three seconds left and the ball landed just left of the goal but it would not matter as the Eagles proved that senior night magic is real to secure the 1-0 victory over the ASUN regular season champions.

FGCU has officially clinched a spot in the ASUN Tournament expected to start on Nov. 5 and are currently in third spot with 12 points behind No.10 Lipscomb at first with 18 points and Central Arkansas with 17 points.

The Eagles will return to action on Tuesday at 7 p.m. as they head to DeLand, Florida to take on Stetson (3-2-2, 5-3-6 ASUN) for its final regular-season game.
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 40-33-16 (.521) record overall, including a 22-10-6 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 154-122-62 (.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--