FORT MYERS, Fla. – The Florida Gulf Coast University men's soccer team earned a thrilling 1-1 draw against the University of Central Arkansas Saturday on Senior Night at Pickering Field.
The Eagles celebrated the senior contributions of
Wyatt Kistner,
Anthony Rowan,
Linus Dahl,
Marcos Da Paz,
Luke Peperak,
Landon Ameres,
Gustavo Ferrari,
Jahvanie Hammond,
Jonathan Bryant, and
Alejandro Rodriguez prior to the game.
The Eagles entered the game with a chance to clinch a spot in the 2023 ASUN Tournament, needing a win or if Queens University of North Carolina's game against University of North Florida resulted in a tie or loss. The Royals won 1-0 in Jacksonville, Florida.
Niall Reid-Stephen delivered his first career goal for the Green & Blue in the 61st minute and was assisted by Job Choute.
"It takes more courage to finish our chances and win this conference," head coach Jesse Cormier said. "We lack conviction at key times, which makes us vulnerable for draws and losses."
"Our conversion rate with twenty-four shots is far too low, and we need to find leadership in our attack to believe, have the composure and poise to put finish teams off. We will continue to fight to host here on Pickering field in the playoffs,"
Overall, FGCU (3-5-5, 2-1-3 ASUN) had a whopping season-high 24 shots with 11 on goal compared to the Sugar Bears' (2-7-4, 1-2-3 ASUN) 10 attempts with only two on goal. Daniel Copeland stayed in between the pipes for all 90 minutes while making one save.
UCA's goalkeeper Javier Ramirez was tested for the entire evening, having made 10 saves.
In the first half, the Eagles got straight to work firing four shots in the first five minutes. The barrage of shots continued for the Green & Blue, releasing 11 shots for the remainder of the first half, with three coming from Shoki Yoshida and six being from different players.
The offensive energy did not emerge, and the Eagles were still off the scoreboard along with the Sugar Bears, who only had five shots for the entire first half.
The Eagles started the second half eager to score as Luis Lugo fired a shot at 47:40, followed by Choute but it was saved. Choute would factor into play six minutes later as he sent a perfect cross ball to Reid-Stephen who buried it to the right side of the net to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead at 56:28.
FGCU wasn't given long to celebrate as Pietro Fontana took a shot himself and evened the game at 61:38. From there, both teams kept pushing for the game-winning goal, and the Eagles were more in control with four shots compared to the Sugar Bears not having a chance at goal for the next 15 minutes.
UCA's defense picked up as the Eagles' shots decreased compared to the beginning as both teams would have two shots each for the remainder of the game, but none would connect. Both teams received one point after the final whistle.
The Eagles will now head to Florida Atlantic University (4-6-3) Tuesday. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. in Boca Raton.
