FORT MYERS, Fla. – The 2022 campaign officially gets underway with a pair of matches this week as the FGCU men’s soccer team heads to South Florida on Thursday night (7 PM, ESPN+) before hosting Northwestern at Pickering Field on Sunday night (7 PM, Facebook Live) for the home opener.
Fans who come out on Sunday night for the home opener will receive free schedule magnets and posters. Beer and wine will also be available for purchase, ages 21-and-up, at the stadium.
The season opens with a battle of I-75 rivals as USF holds a slight 5-4-5 advantage after last season’s 0-0 overtime draw at Pickering field. The last nine 10 meetings have featured five draws with FGCU picking up three wins in the other five contests. Scoring in the series has also been close with the Bulls holding a slight 20-18 edge overall.
Additionally, the match-up has the Eagles facing the program’s former head coach in Bob Butehorn who posted a 95-62-23 record, highlighted by four NCAA Tournament appearances, while leading FGCU in its first decade – a tenure which included a 52- 18-7 mark in the ASUN and six regular-season titles.
For Sunday’s home opener, this will mark just the second time FGCU and Northwestern have met on the pitch. The Wildcats took a 2-1 decision during the 2016 campaign in Evanston for the other match up.
Northwestern will officially open the season on Thursday night when it hosts Chicago State. Fans will see a familiar face in the Wildcats’ line-up as a former standout Ethan Dudley returns to Fort Myers. The former ASUN Defensive Player of the Year and two-time All-ASUN performer will make his return to Pickering Field after transferring to Northwestern as a graduate student for his final season.
The Eagles will have a new look overall for the upcoming season after graduating stalwarts such as Dudley, O’Vonte Mullingsand Gustavo Vasconcelos who were each among the top players in ASUN and program history. Mullings finished the year as a first round pick (No. 20 overall) of the New York Red Bulls after finishing his career second all-time in FGCU history with 63 points and 28 goals. Vasconcelos was a three-time ASUN Keeper of the Year, the first in program history, and has returned to the program this year as a graduate assistant coach working with the goalkeepers.
Fifth-year senior Shandel Senior was named to the ASUN Preseason All-Conference Team earlier this month with the Eagles picked to finish third in the coaches’ poll. David Alves was tabbed as the fans’ choice for ASUN Player of the Year through the league’s Facebook page.
While the Eagles return 16 players from last season’s squad, FGCU also welcomes 19 newcomers for the upcoming campaign. Nine of those are transfers included Jovoney Brown who was an ASUN All-Conference Second Team selection last year at North Florida.
The Eagles finished 4-3-0 last fall in ASUN play and were 4-8-1 overall. FGCU won three of its last four games of the regular season to enter the postseason as the third seed in the ASUN Tournament.
For up-to-the-minute information and a behind-the-scenes look at the FGCU men’s soccer program, follow on Twitter @FGCU_MSoccer, Instagram @FGCU_MSoccer, Facebook /FGCUMSoccer, and YouTube /FGCUAthletics. You can also sign-up to have news on FGCU men’s soccer and all 15 sports programs delivered directly to your inbox by visiting www.fgcuathletics.com/email.
HEAD COACH JESSE CORMIER
Jesse Cormier is in his sixth year as head coach of the FGCU men’s soccer program in the fall of 2022 after being hired in January of 2017 to become just the 2nd head coach in program history. Cormier has guided FGCU to a 33-31-12 (.520) record overall, including a 19-9-4 mark (.656) in ASUN play. The Eagles have reached the ASUN Tournament semifinals for nine of 10 seasons (every year of eligibility but one), as Cormier has coached 31 all-conference selections since his arrival (program-record 10 in 2017). Cormier was the head coach at his alma mater the University of Vermont for the previous 13 seasons. He won 14 games with the Catamounts in 2016 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament Second Round. During his time with Vermont, Cormier guided the program to the America East Tournament in 12 of 13 seasons, making five title game appearances, winning two tournament crowns, claiming a regular-season championship and advancing to three NCAA tournaments, including a pair of Second Round appearances. Cormier holds an overall 147-120-58 (.543) record as a head coach in his 16-plus seasons at the helm.
EAGLE CAMPAIGN
IT TAKES A TEAM to achieve our newest goal – a $10 million campaign to address student-athlete needs in continued academic success, life skills, mental health, nutrition, and strength and conditioning as well as departmental needs in facility expansion and improvement as well as mentoring and leadership training for coaches and staff. The name embodies our mission and the purpose of the EAGLE Campaign – Eagle Athletics Generating Lifetime Excellence. Join our team and pledge your gift today to help the Eagles of tomorrow!
#FEEDFGCU
FGCU Athletics sponsors events in November and April to benefit the FGCU Campus Food Pantry (www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry) and the Harry Chapin Food Bank (www.harrychapinfoodbank.org), FGCU Athletics’ charities of choice. For more information, including how to make a contribution, please visit www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and use the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.
ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 92 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 15 seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just 11 seasons of DI postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 45 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. In 2022, the men’s golf team became the first program to earn an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament. Eight FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sports – including women’s basketball (No. 20, 2021-22), beach volleyball (No. 20, 2022) and both men’s soccer (2018, 2019) and women’s soccer (2018) as four of the most recent. In 2016-17, the Green and Blue posted a department-best sixth-place finish in the DI-AAA Learfield Directors’ Cup and top-100 showing nationally, ahead of several Power-5 and FBS institutions. In 2018-19, the Eagles had an ASUN and state of Florida best seven teams earn the NCAA’s Public Recognition Award for their Academic Progress Rate in their sport. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.50 GPA in the classroom in the fall 2020 semester and has outperformed the general university undergraduate population for 26 consecutive semesters. The past five semesters (Fall 2019 – Spring 2022) saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher cumulative team GPA. The Eagles also served an all-time high 7,200 volunteer hours in 2017 – being recognized as one of two runners-up for the inaugural NACDA Community Service Award presented by the Fiesta Bowl.
–FGCUATHLETICS.COM–