LYNCHBURG, Va.- The Florida Gulf Coast Eagles raced out to a 3-0 lead before hanging on late, a man down, for a 3-2 victory on the road over the Liberty Flames Friday night in Lynchburg, Va.

It took things a little while to get going between the Eagles and Flames Friday night as neither team was able to manage a shot through the first 20 minutes of action with much of the action coming in the middle third of the field.

Aron Martinez got the first shot of the game off in the 25^th minute, but it was blocked out of bounds, earning the Eagles a corner. They couldn't capitalize on that chance, but two minutes later they did as Emerson LaOrden picked off a Liberty clearing attempt and fed it to Brooks Beeman who buried one from the top of the box to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead.

It looked like the Flames had the equalizer in the 34^th minute, but after video replay, the goal was disallowed and the Eagles remained in front 1-0.

With just 10 seconds remaining in the first half, Liberty got their first shot of the period off at the Eagle goal, but it was off the mark and FGCU went to the break with a 1-0 advantage.

It didn't take long for the Eagles to extend upon their lead as the teams came out of the locker rooms at the half as LaOrden cracked a brilliant left footed strike to goal and buried it in the bottom 90 to double the FGCU lead to 2-0 just three minutes into the half.

Both teams had chances over the next 10 minutes as Liberty's best opportunity in the first 55 minutes of the game came with a shot off the post before the Eagles put another ball in the net but had it called back for a foul in the 57^th minute of the contest.

The game changed in the 64^th minute when FGCU was assessed a straight red card for a tackle in the Liberty third, putting the Eagles a man down for the final 26 minutes of the game.

The Flames controlled the possession from there, putting a deep run into their attacking third before Emilio Rossi cut the ball out for the Eagles to keep Liberty off the board.

FGCU stunned the Flames in the 77^th minute as Flavio D'Angelo picked off a Liberty pass and slid a shot past the Flames keeper one on one to give the Eagles a 3-0 lead with 13 minutes to go.

Just when it looked like the Eagles were smooth sailing, here came the Flames. A foul called on FGCU in the box turned into a Liberty penalty kick which they converted to make it 3-1. Less than two minutes later the Flames scored again, turning a 3-0 game into a tight 3-2 contest in a span of just 1:42.

From there the clock couldn't run fast enough for the Eagles as chance after chance came for the Flames with FGCU a man down, but Eagle keeper Marcelo Lacayo was up to the task, making a pair of big saves late, including one with time winding down to preserve a 3-2 victory for the Blue and Green.

The Eagles were outshot 13-7 in the contest with Lacayo making five saves on the night for the win in net. Martinez led FGCU with three shots and also recorded an assist while LaOrden notched both a goal and an assist in the victory for the Eagles.

The Eagles pick up their first win of the year to improve to 1-2-0 while Liberty falls to 1-2-0.

FGCU will be back in action on Monday when they make the short trip over to Charlottesville to take on Virginia in a 6 p.m. kickoff at Klockner Stadium.

For more information on FGCU men's soccer, follow @FGCU_MSoccer on Instagram, X (Twitter) and Facebook, and visit fgcuathletics.com.
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