Last Time Out:
The Eagles are coming off of a 8-6-3 overall record with a 4-1-1 record in the A-SUN before falling to Lipscomb in the semifinals of A-SUN Conference Tournament.
The team is led by head coach Jesse Cormier. Cormier enters his second season as head coach after spending 13 with his alma mater, the University of Vermont.
Key returning players for the Eagles include seniors Preston Kilwein, Kamar Marriott, and Dennis Zapata, junior Shak Adams, and sophomores Chris Clement and Kareem Riley.
Kilwein, a defender from Pleasant Hill, California, logged in 1,510 minutes on the defensive side. Kilwein also added three goals and one assist to the stat sheet.
Marriott, a midfielder from Tampa, make his return to the field after sitting out the entire 2017 season due to an injury. Marriott has not played since the second round of the 2016 NCAA National Tournament against North Carolina.
Zapata, a midfielder from Orlando, is entering his senior year after claiming his first A-SUN postseason award as a member of the A-SUN All-Conference Second Team. Zapata started all 13 games and finished his junior year with five goals and five assists while logging in 896 minutes.
Adams, a striker from Antioch, Tennessee, led the team in goals (7) and had three assists while logging in 1223 minutes. Adam earned A-SUN All-Conference First Team honors as well as being named on the NSCAA All-Southeast Region Second Team.
Prior to the season, Kilwein, Zapata and Adams were named on the A-SUN Preseason All-Conference Team. Kilwein was also named as the A-SUN Preseason Defensive Player of the Year.
Clement, a defender from Mallorca, Spain, is coming off of a successful freshman year. The trilingual sensation of American, French and Spanish decent, logged in 1,271 minutes while scoring one goal and dishing out four assists. Clement helped FGCU to seven shutouts, one more than any other league team and allowed 22 goals, which tied for the fewest in the league. As a result, Clement was named a member of the A-SUN All-Freshman Team.
Riley, a midfielder from Couva, Trinidad and Tobago, is also coming off of a successful freshman year. Riley had one goal and one assist while logging 968 minutes. Riley joined Clement on the A-SUN All-Freshman Team and earned a spot as #3 on SportsCenter’s Top 10 Plays on Oct. 3, where his lone goal against Omaha last season went 40 yards out into the goal.
Goalkeeper Life:
After the departure of Jared Brown, FGCU has three returning goalkeepers: redshirt sophomores Gustavo Vasconcelos and Connor Gavigan and redshirt freshman Josh Morgan.
Vasconcelos, a native of Recife, Brazil, played in two games with a save in 55 minutes.
After transferring from Creighton, Gavigan, a native of Aurora, Colorado, would share starts with Brown. Gavigan logged in 1,111 minutes of play with 47 saves.
Morgan, a native of Atherton, California, redshirted the whole season to maintain all four years of eligibility.
It is not clear who will be the starting goalkeeper for the opening game.
Numerous Transfers:
Not only have the Eagles signed four freshman, but they also signed a plethora of transfers (10 to be exact): Jason Van Achteren, Noah Bushey, Joao Burti, Ivan Rosales, Raheem Somersall, Ryan Medilah, Jomar Alvarez, Titouan Le Menec, Owen Betz and Michael Luke.
Van Achteren, a midfielder from Antwerp, Belgium listed as a junior, joins FGCU as a double transfer with two years of eligibility remaining. Prior to FGCU, Van Achteren spent his freshman year at NCAA DII Embry-Riddle before transferring to NCAA DII Eastern New Mexico. Van Achteren sat out the entire 2017 season in accordance to the NCAA transfer rule.
Bushey, a midfielder from Spokane, joins FGCU as a redshirt sophomore after transferring from New Mexico. After utilizing a redshirt his freshman, Bushey played in nine games and logged in 179 minutes of play. Bushey will have three years of eligibility remaining.
Burti, a striker from Sao Paulo, Brazil, joins FGCU as a junior after spending his first two seasons with NJCAA Iowa Western. With the Reivers, Burti had 23 career goals and seven career assists. During his sophomore year, Burti had two hat tricks. He will have two years of eligibility remaining.
Rosales, a midfielder from Pasadena, Texas, joins FGCU as a junior after spending his first two years at NJCAA San Jacinto College. With the Ravens, Rosales had 10 career goals and 10 career assists. He joins FGCU with two years of eligibility remaining.
Somersall, a midfielder from Basseterre, St. Kitts, joins FGCU as a senior after spending three years with Appalachian State. Like Van Acheteren, he joined FGCU during the fall 2017 semester. Somersall appeared in 53 career games with Mountaineers he had one goal and one assist. He will have one year of eligibility remaining.
Like Rosales, Medilah, a midfielder from Paris, France, joins FGCU as a junior from NJCAA San Jacinto College. With the Ravens, Medilah had seven career goals and 11 career assists. Like Burti and Rosales, Medilah will have two years of eligibility remaining.
Alvarez, a midfielder from Fleming Island, Florida, joins FGCU as a sophomore after transferring from UCF prior to the spring 2018 semester, but Alvarez came as a student and did not play on UCF's team.
Alvarez will have all four years of eligibility remaining.
Le Menec, a defender from Guipavas, France, joins FGCU as a sophomore after spending his freshman year at NCCAA Bluefield College. With the Rams, he was named to the NCCAA Mid-East All-Region Team after helping lead Bluefield to a regional championship and third national tournament appearance in four years. Le Menec started 19 of 23 games, issuing three assists from his backline position and guiding Bluefield to a 16-8 overall record. Le Menec joins fellow Frenchmen, redshirt sophomore Thomas Delplace, junior Tom Denat, and Medilah with three years of eligibility remaining.
Like Van Achteren, Betz, a goalkeeper from Pass Christian, Mississippi, joins FGCU as a double transfer after spending his freshman year at former A-SUN Conference member, Northern Kentucky and his sophomore year at NJCAA Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College.
With the Norse, Betz started in all eight games he appeared in with a team-best 41 saves with a save percentage of 77.4 and posted a 1.46 goals against average. With the Bulldogs, Betz played and started all 17 games, posting a 1.34 goals against average and seven shutouts, and in eight conference matches, he secured five clean sheets, had a 0.51 goals against average and went a perfect 8-0. Betz will be listed as a junior with two years of eligibility remaining.
Luke, a midfielder from Parkland, Florida, joins FGCU as a sophomore after spending his freshman year at UNC Asheville.There, as a Bulldog, Luke played in 18 games with eight starts while attempting eight shots. Luke will have three years of eligibility remaining.
Scouting Charlotte:
The 49ers are coming off of a 8-5-6 overall record with a 2-1-5 record in Conference USA finishing as the runner-up in the conference tournament after losing to Old Dominion.
The 49ers are led by Kevin Langan. Langan enters his 7th season as head coach.
A C-USA favorite, Charlotte was picked to finish second in the coaches' preseason poll earlier this month along with three preseason honorees including the conference Preseason Defensive Player of the Year in Callum Montgomery.
Montgomery, a native of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada was named on the CoSIDA Academic All-American Second Team, CoSIDA Academic All-District Team, United Soccer Coaches All-South Region Scholar, Conference USA All-Academic Team, United Soccer Coaches All-Southeast Region Second Team, and earned a spot on the All-Conference USA First Team and North Carolina Collegiate Sports Information Association’s All-State First Team.
Redshirt junior Elliott Panicco returns as starting goalkeeper for the 49ers. Panicco finished all 22 games with 53 saves.
Also returning is redshirt senior Daniel Bruce. A native of Northwich, Cheshire, England, the striker was the leaders in goals (6) and assists (5) and was named on the All-Conference USA First Team and the North Carolina Collegiate Sports Information Association All-State First Team.
This will be the first time that both teams will play each other.
How to Watch/Stay Updated:
For this game, the game can be watched on livestream on the Conference USA website. You do have to pay to watch it (roughly $5.99 for a one-day pass).
Livestats will also be available for people that are unable to or don't want to watch the game livestream.
Livestream Link: http://conferenceusa.com/showcase/embed.aspx?Live=4919
Livestats: http://www.sidearmstats.com/charlotte/msoc/
Link to Riley's 40 yard goal: https://twitter.com/FGCU_MSoccer/status/915373928771551232
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