JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – FGCU men's soccer (3-0-2, 0-0-1 ASUN) opened ASUN play and pushed their undefeated record to five as they tied 1-1 at Jacksonville (2-2-2, 0-1-1 ASUN), Friday evening at Southern Oak Stadium. This is the best five-game start to a season in the program's history.

Sophomore Aaron Markowitz (Plantation, Fla, / Western HS) scored the lone goal for the Eagles in the 73^rd minute.

"I thought we were superior in just about every facet of the game other than converting our opportunities. Our ball retention, tempo, organization, and building from back to our middle third was excellent" said head coach Jesse Cormier. " From the stats, I felt we were territorially dominant but need more efficiency with our final action.  We had some excellent contributions from players coming into the game tonight, Aaron Markowitz, Jahvanie Hammond, Pau Santanach, and Timon Zech brought excellent energy and helped us get at least a point on the road tonight."

Overall, FGCU outshot the Dolphins, 22-6 while having seven shots on goal to their three. The Eagles also had a 11-1 advantage on corner kicks.

The Eagles only had two yellow cards on the evening, but unfortunately it was to the same player as junior defender Anthony Rowan (Connellsville, PA/Marshall) picked up one in the 57th minute before picking up his second in the 79^th minute, leading to his ejection.

Sophomore goalkeeper Wyatt Kistner (Midlothian/Va. /Cosby HS) only allowed one goal while making two saves.

Freshman defender Anthony Gagliardi II (Hubbard, Ohio/Slippery Rock) nearly gave the Eagles the lead in the first six minutes as he fired the ball to the bottom center of the net where the keeper was able to corral it. From there the Eagles were dangerous firing six shots that included four from senior Davi Alves (Belo Horizonte/ West Florida) but none connected.

The Dolphins got on the scoreboard in the 30^th minute and FGCU tried to respond as Pau Santanach (Barcelona/Spain) drove the ball to the bottom side of the net but it was once again saved. That was the last shot of the half and the Dolphins went into the break with the 1-0 lead.

In the second half, FGCU kept trying and outshot the Dolphins 4-3 within the first 25 minutes until Markowitz  got his first goal of the season off of a corner kick from freshman midfielder Alon Drey (Or'Aqiva, Israel).

With the match even 1-1 both teams relentlessly tried to get the winning goal. Once again the Eagles applied more pressure firing six shots to the Dolphins one. Markowitz had the final chance for FGCU in the 86^th minute as he shot it to the center of the goal only to see it be saved by Christian Sekanina.

FGCU picked up a number of accolades this week as Head Coach Jesse Cormier earned his 150^th career win this past Sunday against Mercer, followed by graduate forward Aedon Kyra (Sydney, Australia/UNLV) being named ASUN Player of the Week on Tuesday for his game-winning goal against the Bears.One day later the United Soccer Coaches announced FGCU as second in the Atlantic Region poll behind 21^st nationally ranked Lipscomb.

FGCU will return to action in two days back in Fort Myers as they take on ACC member Louisville on Monday evening at 7 p.m.

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 36-31-14 (.521) record overall, including a 19-9-4 mark (.656) 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 150-120-60 (.543) 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 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 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--