The losing streak is over. The FGCU men’s soccer team picked up their first win of the season over the Jacksonville University Dolphins at Pickering Field at the FGCU Soccer Complex on Saturday, Sept. 21.
FGCU entered the match with a 0-5-1 record. Through the first six games the Eagles only put up three goals, all stemmed from their matchup on Friday, Sept. 6 against the University of South Florida in Tampa.
Their cross-state rivals, the Jacksonville University Dolphins, entered the matchup with a 1-3-2 record with their one victory against Dayton University on the road. Both teams eyed the matchup as a way to find positive momentum in what has been a lackluster season for each program.
The Eagles controlled the pace throughout the first half.
Senior forward Shoki Yoshida put the Eagles on the board first in the seventh minute. This marked the first time the team has led in a match this season.
“Shoki has grown a ton,” FGCU Men’s Soccer Coach Jesse Cormier said. “He came in with a really nice foundation of skill, but wasn’t really able to find the moments, to really apply it, and is now really finding the moments.”
Yoshida continued his dominant performance with two more shots, each of which was on goal. He exited the match as the team’s leading goal scorer.
Jacksonville University struggled to match FGCU’s success in the first half as they dominated the Dolphins in multiple statistics. They outshot and outscored the Dolphins through 45 minutes, however, they out fouled them 12 to 4.
This was a trend that continued throughout the second half as both teams finished the game with 39 combined fouls. FGCU committed 27 fouls, which put them with the second most fouls in NCAA Division I Men’s Soccer averaging 17 fouls per game.
The aggressive nature of the game resulted in nine yellow cards and three red cards being thrown throughout the match. It sent Eagles’ junior defender Victor Huge de Oliveria Lopes, Dolphins’ graduate student defender Matthew Skinner and redshirt senior midfielder Olivier Correa further fueling the Eagles lead.
All of these circumstances were too much for the Dolphins to handle as they failed to tie the game, losing 1-0.
“I think the guys kind of composed themselves and are figuring out what it takes, and they did what it took,” Cormier said. “And you know, but I thought the guys came out with a good energy and pretty much sustained it through the game”
With the win, the Eagles claim their first win of the season and their first win of ASUN Conference play. While going winless against their non-conference performance, those games aided them in their victory.
“Non-conference is really your time to grow and really be at your best coming into conference [play],” Cormier said. “I think we’ve been through a lot, and I think this is a resilient group.”
The Eagles return to Pickering Field to face the University of North Florida Ospreys on Saturday, Oct. 5 to continue conference play.
