FORT MYERS, Fla. – The 2023 schedule for the Florida Gulf Coast University men's soccer team has been officially announced. The season begins in Lexington, Kentucky, on Aug. 24 against the 2022 Sun Belt Conference Tournament champions, University of Kentucky. Last year the Wildcats registered a 15-1-5 record.
The Eagles will host eight home games at Pickering Stadium.
"As a program, it is mission critical to challenge ourselves in the non-conference portion of our schedule to prepare us for the big challenges and rivalries that we have developed in the ASUN over the years," said head coach
Jesse Cormier. "Every fiber of our program needs to be battle tested for us to be at our best and compete at the highest level in each match. Our challenge is always, can we steadily improve our performance each week and peak perform at the critical times for us to achieve history for this program, the athletic department and FGCU as an institution."
FGCU fans will get three chances to view the new team before official competition gets underway. On Aug. 12 there will be a scrimmage against Eckerd College before FGCU takes on the University of Tampa Aug. 17. The Eagles will then host a final scrimmage against Palm Beach Atlantic University Aug. 20.
After the Green & Blue's first official match against Kentucky, they will head to the University of Northern Kentucky Aug. 27.
The Eagles will then return home to host Georgia Southern University Sept. 1 before taking on Marist University a few days later on Sep. 4. FGCU will end its three-game home stand Sept. 9 by welcoming the University of Alabama-Birmingham.
The Green & Blue will then begin ASUN conference play as they head to rival Jacksonville University Sept. 16 before returning home to battle Stetson University Sept. 23. The Eagles will round out competition in September as they take on the University of North Florida in Jacksonville Sept. 30.
The Eagles will then host Bellarmine University Oct. 7 before heading to North Carolina to battle 2022 NCAA first-round participant the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
FGCU will remain on the road, heading to 2022 ASUN champions Lipscomb in Nashville, Tennessee on Oct.14. The Eagles will then host American Athletic Conference Tournament champions and NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 participant Florida International University Oct. 17.
The Green & Blue will resume league action by taking on the University of Central Arkansas at Pickering Field before heading to Boca Raton to battle against Florida Atlantic University. The Eagles will end the regular season by hosting Queens of Charlotte
on Oct. 28.
The ASUN Conference Championship first round matches will be played Saturday, Nov. 4 with the semifinals Monday, Nov. 6 and the championship final Saturday, Nov. 11.
