FORT MYERS, Fla. -
Shoki Yoshida put away a goal in the eighth minute after holding off his marker and poking the ball by the keeper to give Florida Gulf Coast University men's soccer the 1-0 victory over Jacksonville to open Atlantic Sun Conference play Saturday.
"It feels great to get three points," head coach
Jesse Cormier said. "We had a couple of really disappointing results to start their year that could have gone our way. I thought the guys had a winning mentality all week in training and they brought it during the game and kept it through the game start to finish. We got a clean sheet. It's a good night."
The defensive excellence that marked the beginning of the season, shined to start ASUN play. The Dolphins were only able to manage five shots, one on goal. The shot came low and across the box from the Jacksonville attacker which
Oliver Weng met with a diving stop.
The Eagles produced far more offensive pressure over the course of the match with 10 shots, four shots on goal and three corners. Jacksonville did not earn a corner all game.
The match was marked with hard play. FGCU committed 27 fouls with four yellow cards and one red card. Jacksonville committed fewer fouls at 12 but had five yellow cards and two red cards. The Dolphins played with 10 players starting with 19 minutes left on the clock and nine players for the final 12 minutes.
Around the ASUN tonight, the three teams left with three points were FGCU, Stetson and Central Arkansas. Queens and Lipscomb ended in a scoreless draw.
The Eagles go on the road for another ASUN tilt versus Stetson before returning home for a non-conference match against Keiser on Oct. 2, then returning to conference play Oct. 5 against UNF.
