FORT MYERS, Fla. – Florida Gulf Coast University's men's soccer team continued its recent surge Sunday night, scoring a pair of first-half goals en route to a 2-0 shutout victory over Houston Christian in a non-conference match at Pickering Field.
FGCU (4-2-1) has won its last two matches and is 3-0-1 in its last four contests. The Eagles have already matched their win total from the 2024 campaign, when FGCU went 4-10-3 and it took the Eagles 13 matches to earn their fourth win.
The shutout is the second straight clean sheet for FGCU and the Eagles have not allowed a goal in the last 243:24 of match time going back to FGCU's 1-1 draw at UAB on Sept. 6. It is also the first time FGCU has posted back-to-back shutouts since beating Liberty, 2-0, and No. 17 Charlotte, 1-0, in consecutive matches during the 2019 season.
Houston Christian (4-2) – which had a three-match winning streak come to an end with the loss – came out firing, racking up four shots – though just one was on goal – in the first 10 minutes of the match. However, it was FGCU that found the back of the net first, as
Edson Murguia got his third goal of the season at 11:07 when he sent a right-footed shot into the bottom right part of the goal to give the Eagles an early 1-0 lead.
Later in the half, FGCU doubled its lead to 2-0 at 38:05 when
Caio Oliveira scored off an assist by
Salvador Martinez Romo. Oliveira now has a team-leading five goals on the season, has scored in two straight matches and three of the Eagles' last four outings, and has either a goal or an assist in five of FGCU's seven matches in the 2025 campaign.
The score stayed 2-0 until halftime, and FGCU outshot Houston Christian, 7-6, in the opening 45 minutes. The Eagles also held a decisive 7-1 advantage in shots on goal, though the Huskies did have three corner kicks to FGCU's two. The teams combined for 13 fouls, with eight called on FGCU and five on Houston Christian. Three yellow cards were also handed out, all to FGCU players.
In the second half, Houston Christian pressured the FGCU net, outshooting the Eagles, 10-5, in the final 45 minutes, but the FGCU defense stood tall to keep the Huskies off the scoreboard and preserve the 2-0 victory. Eagle keeper
Oliver Weng more than did his part to keep Houston Christian scoreless, making a pair of back-to-back saves in the 71
st minute on two shots by different Houston Christian players, and stopping an 84
th minute shot headed for the top left corner of the net.
For the match, Houston Christian outshot FGCU, 16-12, but the Eagles had nine shots on goal to the Huskies' five. Houston Christian had six corner kicks to FGCU's five, and 21 fouls (14 on FGCU, seven on HCU) were called. Four yellow cards were given out, three to FGCU and one to the Huskies.
Job Choute had five shots – three on goal – to lead the FGCU shot count. Oliveira and Murguia had two shots apiece – both on goal – and three other players (
Brian Lopez,
Jose Escobar, and Martinez Romo) had one shot apiece for the Eagles in the win.
Weng matched his season high with five saves to earn the victory in goal, running his record to 3-2 and lowering his goals against average to 1.20.
FGCU is back in action on Thursday, when the Eagles travel to Miami to take on Florida International (2-2-2) in another non-conference match. Kickoff at Leyva Family Field is scheduled for 7 p.m., and the match will be streamed live on ESPN+.
For the first time in program history, FGCU is offering fall
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. For mini-plan options, click
here. For single-game tickets, click
here. Single-game tickets start at just $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+.
