FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU men's soccer team returns to ASUN conference play as it hosts Liberty on Friday night at Pickering Field. The Eagles enter the match at 3-1-2 overall while the Flames are 2-2-2. LU currently sits in fourth place in the ASUN with a 1-1-0 conference record while FGCU is fifth at 0-0-1.
The match is set for a 7 p.m. kickoff and will be streamed on Facebook Live. It will be Military & First Responders Recognition night. Color guard, military and first responders will be recognized at halftime. Beer and wine will also be available at the match.
The Eagles are coming off a narrow 1-0 loss against ACC member Louisville on Monday. This was FGCU's first defeat of the season after their best five game start in program history.
Both graduate student
Aedon Kyra (
Sydney, Australia/UNLV) and senior
Davi Alves (
Belo Horizonte, Brazil) lead the Eagles' offense with two goals on the young season. Kyra earned ASUN Player of the Week on 9/13 after scoring two goals in two games which included his game-winning goal at Mercer.
The win was momentous as it was head coach
Jesse Cormier's 150
th career win.
Wyatt Kistner (
Midlothian, Va.) has had three shutouts to date with an overall 1.00 goals-against-average and a 0.667 save percentage.
Friday will be the fourth meeting between the two programs after the Flames only entered the league
back in 2018. Liberty won the last matchup 1-0 on Sept. 25 in Lynchburg, Va. but overall the Eagles lead the series 2-1. LU is coming off a 2-0 loss against No. 21 Lipscomb who is also 15
th in the RPI rankings on Saturday. Bryce Swinehart, Luke Eberie and Seth Clark have all scored two goals this season.
Blake Franzen is the keeper of record with a 1.43 goals-against-average and a 0.706 save percentage.
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 36-32-14 (.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 150-121-60 (.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 92 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 15 seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just 10 seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 44 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. 20, 2021-22), beach volleyball (No. 20, 2022) 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 25 consecutive semesters. The past five semesters (Fall 2019 – Fall 2021) 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--
