FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU men's soccer team delivered a pair of goals in the second half on Friday evening to defeat Liberty, 2-1.  With the victory, the Eagles are back in the win column and improve to 4-1-2 overall and 1-0-1 in the ASUN while LU falls to 2-3-2 and 1-2-0 in league play.

Senior Davi Alves (Belo Horizonte, Brazil / West Florida) scored the first goal for the Eagles in the 53^rd minute followed by graduate student Jovoney Brown (Savanna-La-Mar, Jamaica/North Florida) scoring the game-winner in the 66^th minute.

"Liberty is a good team and took us out of our rhythm for stretches in the first half," said head coach Jesse Cormier. "Credit to Davi Alves and Jovoney who showed their quality together and made some key connections to equalize and create the winning goal.  Any time we score, our defensive line, Wyatt, Kuku, Jahvanie, Alon, are difficult to beat and can be a formidable influence in closing out the match.."

Overall, FGCU outshot the Flames, 16-12 while having eight shots on goal to their six. The teams were even on corner kicks with five each.
Sophomore goalkeeper Wyatt Kistner (Midlothian/Va. /Cosby HS) earned the victory while making five saves.

In the first half, senior Markus Maurer (Friedrichshafen, Germany/Monroe College) fired a shot within the first minute that was just wide of the goal. For the duration of the half, both teams were even on attempts to get on the scoreboard with five shots but none connected.

The Flames started the second half with a bang finding the back of the net in the 49^th minute as Luke Eberle received a cross from Marko Mitrevski and buried it to the left corner of the net to give Liberty the 1-0 advantage.

The Eagles immediately responded as Alves took a feed from Brown and drove the ball in the middle of the net to tie the game 1-1 in the 53^rd minute. It was the Brazilian's third goal of the season.

FGCU then had three shots on goal that included a pair from Maurer but goalkeeper Blake Franzen made the saves. In the 66^th minute, Brown ended the tension and scored his second goal of the season on a driving push from the right over the top of the outstretch Frazen to give the Eagles the lead for the first time in the match.

For the remainder of the game the Flames had five attempted shots while the Eagles made four but none connected to the back of the net and FGCU sealed its first ASUN victory.

The Eagles will return to action next Saturday at 7 p.m. as they head to Louisville, Kentucky to take on league foe Bellarmine (3-3-1, 0-2-0 ASUN). The Green & Blue will look to avenge their season ending match against the Knights in the ASUN quarterfinals.

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 37-32-14 (.521) record overall, including a 20-9-4 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 151-121-60 (.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 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.  


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