EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – Florida Gulf Coast University's men's soccer team lifted the lid on its 2025 season Thursday night with a hard-fought 2-1 win over Southern Illinois-Edwardsville at Ralph Korte Stadium.
FGCU's win is its first in a season debut since 2019, when the Eagles traveled to No. 13 Michigan and knocked off the Wolverines, 4-3. Thursday's victory – which came in
Oliver Twelvetrees's first match as the Eagles head coach – came over an SIUE team that is the two-time defending Ohio Valley Conference champions and the Cougars had a 17-1-2 record in their last 20 home matches prior to Thursday's loss.
FGCU (1-0) had two shots in the first five minutes of the match and the teams went back and forth for the first 15 minutes before the Eagles broke through at the 17:22 mark for their first goal of the 2025 campaign. Newcomer
Salvador Martinez found fellow first-year Eagle
Caio Oliveira, who blasted a right-footed shot into the top right corner of the net to give FGCU an early 1-0 lead.
The rest of the first half was a tight, cagey affair and FGCU took a 1-0 lead into the locker room at halftime. Both teams finished the half with three shots, with all three of FGCU's shots being on goal compared to SIUE's two. The Cougars had five corner kicks to the Eagles' zero, and nine fouls were called in the opening 45 minutes, seven on FGCU and two on SIUE (0-1). Each team was shown two yellow cards as well.
In the early part of the second half, SIUE peppered FGCU goalie
Oliver Weng with shots, but the Eagles maintained their 1-0 advantage. FGCU extended its lead to 2-0 at 60:48, as
Edson Murguia found Oliveira with another pass and Oliveira got his second goal of the match with another right-footed shot, this one finding the bottom right corner of the net.
SIUE got a goal back at 75:15, when Carles Zomeno scored off a pass from Archie McDonnell, trimming the Eagles' lead to 2-1. The Cougars made several attempts to tie the match in the dying moments of the match, but FGCU was able to turn away all of SIUE's scoring chances and come away with the win.
Weng made four saves in goal to pick up the shutout, the second of his career. Oliveira led the Eagles with three shots, two of which were on goal, and the duo of
Victor Lopes and Dylan Viebrantz-Zavatini had one shot apiece for FGCU in the win.
SIUE outshot the Eagles, 14-5, for the match, including 5-4 in shots on goal. The Cougars had all seven of the corner kicks in the match and a total of 24 fouls were called in the match, 17 for FGCU and seven for SIUE. A total of eight yellow cards were shown in the match, with the Eagles receiving five cautions and the Cougars three.
FGCU continues its season-opening five match road trip on August 28, when the Eagles travel to Orem, Utah to take on Utah Valley University. Kickoff at UCCU Stadium is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.
The Eagles open the home portion of their 2025 schedule on Sept. 9, when FGCU hosts Florida Memorial in a 7 p.m. matchup at Pickering Field. For the first time in program history, FGCU is offering season tickets for its soccer programs, with packages starting at $60. Fans who purchase season tickets for either the men's or women's soccer teams will receive a season ticket combo for both programs. Mini-plan and single-game tickets are also available, with single-match ticket prices as low as $12.
Fans who aren't able to make it out to Pickering Field to support the Eagles in person can still catch all the action online, as all FGCU home matches are streamed on ESPN+.
