With the FGCU volleyball team releasing their schedule first, the FGCU men's soccer team released their schedule and this year is gonna be the toughest that I have ever came encounter in seeing.
FGCU will be led by Jessie Cormier. Cormier enters his second season as head and his resume speaks loudly about him. Prior to FGCU, Cormier was head coach for the University of Vermont for seven years.
"Our goal once again is to win the A-SUN Championship, and our non-conference schedule has been put together to help prepare us for that goal," said Cormier. "We have several quality opponents coming to The Nest this fall. It should be some high-quality, top-level soccer, and I know our guys and our staff are all looking forward to getting going and returning to play in front of our great fans and Dirty Birds."
FGCU is coming off of a 8-6-3 overall with a 4-1-1 record in conference. The Eagles would fall in the semifinals of the conference tournament to Lipscomb.
The Eagles will lose seven players as seniors: Eli Roubos, Nicolas Samayoa, Jiro Barriga Toyama, Robert Ferrer, Dylan Sacramento, Miguel Jaime, Caleb George and Albert Ruiz.
Ruiz was one of the best players not just for FGCU and the A-SUN Conference, but also in the nation. A native of Barcelona, Spain, Ruiz's resume with FGCU speaks for itself. Ruiz was a A-SUN Player of the Year, two-time A-SUN All-Tournament Team member, A-SUN All-Tournament Team MVP and three-time A-SUN Conference First Team member.
During the 2016 season, Ruiz extended further than that. His 22 goals were not only lead as the most for FGCU and the A-SUN, but in the nation too.
As a result of his success, Ruiz was also named a NSCAA All-Southeast Region First Team memeber, NSCAA First Team All-American and one of three finalists for the MAC Hermann Trophy. Ruiz will be one of nine seniors playing their last season.
This year, FGCU will play five teams that have been to last year's NCAA National Tournament, and teams I have never seen us face before or that haven't faced in a long time or not at all: The University of Omaha, Charlotte, Wake Forest, Presbyterian, Georgia Southern and Cal State Fullerton.
Wake Forest is coming off of a 19-2-2 overall record with a 7-0-1 record in the ACC. They would defeat Virginia Tech 3-0 in the quarterfinals and Clemson 2-1 in the semifinals before defeating Virginia in the final 4-3 in penalty kicks to become the ACC champs and punch their ticket to the national tournament. After earning a first round bye, they would defeat Columbia in the second round and Butler in the third round before falling to Stanford in the quarterfinals.
The last time FGCU played Wake Forest was on September 20, 2015 where the Deacons defeated the Eagles 1-0. At that time, FGCU was ranked 19th in the nation while Wake Forest was 20th. Wake Forest is the only Power 5 Conference team on the FGCU's Schedule, and are currently ranked #6 in the nation.
The game against Omaha will be FGCU's fifth non-league opponent. The Mavericks are coming off of a 10-6-3 overall record with a 2-1-2 record in the Summit League. They would become the Summit League champs and punch their ticket to the NCAA Tournament in 2017, which they lost to FIU in the first round. This was their first postseason appearance last year.
The Mavericks, who fielded their first team in 2011, have quickly ascended on the Division-I landscape with now four-straight winning seasons and double-figure victories in three of those (nine in the other).
Last year, FGCU played the University of Omaha last season and defeated the Mavericks 3-2 at home. Omaha was ranked 24th in the nation at the time.
The teams that FGCU never played are Charlotte, Presbyterian, Georgia Southern and Cal State Fullerton.
The first team FGCU will play to start the season off is against Charlotte. The 49ers were 8-5-6 overall with a 2-1-5 record in Conference USA. They would defeat New Mexico in the quarterfinals (1-0) and FIU in the semifinals (3-1) before falling to Old Dominion in the championship (0-1) thus being named C-USA Runner-Up.
FGCU will be meeting Presbyterian for the first time in program history. The Blue Hose last season went 6-9-5 overall with a 3-3-2 record in the Big South. They would win the Big South Championship and punch their ticket to the national tournament before falling in the first round to .
Georgia Southern is coming off of a 9-8-1 overall record with a 3-2 record in the Sun Belt Conference. They would beat Appalachian State in the quarterfinals on penalty kicks before falling to Georgia State in the semis. This game will be the "Battle of the Eagles" since Georgia Southern's mascot is the Eagles.
Cal State Fullerton is coming off of a 10-8-4 overall record with a 4-4-2 record in the Big West Conference (BWC). The Titans would defeat UC Riverside in the semifinals before defeating UC Davis in the championship on penalty kicks thus punching their ticket to the national tournament where they fell to the University of the Pacific in the first round. The Titans are currently receiving votes in the United Soccer Coaches Poll (6).
The teams that FGCU played traditionally include USF, UCF, FAU, and FIU.
The Bulls, now led by former FGCU head coach Bob Butehorn, were 6-6-4 overall with a 3-2-2 record in the AAC. They failed to make the postseason.
Overall FGCU is 3-4-4 against USF. Last time out, FGCU and USF ended up in a tie in double overtime. The Eagles last against the Bulls was in the first round of the 2016 NCAA National Tournament where the Eagles, who were ranked #18 at the time, won 3-0 in penalty kicks. USF's last win was on Sept. 19, 2015 where they won 2-1 in Tampa. USF is receiving votes in the United Soccer Coaches Poll (8).
The Knights are coming off of a 10-6-2 record with a 6-0-1 record in the AAC. They would defeat U-Conn in the quarterfinals of the AAC Conference Tournament before falling to Southern Methodist in the semis.
Overall, the Eagles are 3-1-2 against the Knights. Last time out, the Eagles won 1-0 at home, the same match where I thought I had a concussion before the game even started. The Golden Knights lone win was on Nov. 17, 2011 in the first round of the 2011 NCAA National Tournament. This was the Eagles' first national tournament appearance. Like Cal State Fullerton and USF, UCF is also receiving votes in the United Soccer Coaches Poll (11).
FAU is coming off of a 2-14 overall record with a 2-6 record in Conference USA. They would fail to make it to the postseason.
Overall, the Eagles are 5-4-1 against the Owls. FGCU's last win against the Owls was on Halloween 2017 where the Eagles won 3-0. FAU's last win against FGCU was on Sept. 11, 2013 where the Owls won 3-2 at FAU in double overtime.
FIU is currently ranked #20 in the nation in the United Soccer Coaches Poll, and are coming off of a 12-2-4 overall record with a 6-0-2 record in Conference USA. Although they fell in the conference finals to Charlotte, the Panthers RPI ranking was strong enough to punch their ticket to the 2017 NCAA National Tournament. They would defeat Omaha 2-0 in the first round before falling 1-2 to then #14 Duke in the second round.
Overall, FGCU is 3-7 against FIU. Last time out, FIU defeated FGCU 4-3 in double overtime at FGCU. The Eagles last win against the Panthers was on Oct 4, 2016 where the Eagles won 4-1 and were ranked #12 in the nation.
Conference Level:
Heading into conference, FGCU will play the usual conference members: NJIT, Lipscomb, Stetson, UNF, and JU.
The Highlanders are coming off of a 8-7-4 overall with a 3-2-1 record in conference finishing as the #3 seed before falling to Lipscomb in the quarterfinals in penalty kicks.
Overall, FGCU is currently 2-0 against the Highlanders. Last time out, FGCU won 5-0 on their senior day at home.
Lipscomb is coming off of an 11-8-2 overall record with a 2-4 record in conference finishing as the #6 seed. They would defeat NJIT, FGCU and Jacksonville in the A-SUN Conference Tournament and punch their ticket to the national tournament before falling to Butler in the first round. The Bison were the lowest seed in the tournament and upset the #3 and #2 seeds (NJIT and FGCU).
Overall, FGCU is 9-4-1 against the Bison. The Eagles last win against the Bison was on October 17, 2017 where the Eagles won 2-0.
The Hatters are coming off of a 7-7-2 overall with a 4-0-2 in conference, finishing as the #1 seed before falling to Jacksonville in the conference tournament semifinals.
Overall FGCU is 5-4-1 overall against Stetson. Last time out, both teams played to a 1-1 tie in double overtime. FGCU's last win against Stetson was on Oct. 14, 2016 where they won 6-0 while Stetson's last win was on Oct. 26, 2013 where the Hatters won 2-1.
The Osprey are coming off of a 3-10-2 overall record with a 2-3-1 record in conference, finishing as the #4 seed before falling to crosstown rival JU.
Overall, the Eagles are 8-2-2 against the Osprey. Last season, the Eagles defeated the Osprey 2-0 at UNF. UNF's last win against FGCU was on Oct. 13, 2016 where the Osprey won 3-2, in which the Eagles were ranked #11 in the nation.
The Dolphins are coming off of a 6-10-1 overall record with a 2-3-1 record in conference. Despite tying their conference record with UNF, the Dolphins were named the #5 seed. They would defeat their crosstown rival UNF in the quarterfinals and Stetson in double overtime in the semifinals before falling in the championship game to Lipscomb, the lowest seed in the tournament.
Overall, FGCU is 9-3 against JU. Last season, FGCU defeated JU 2-1. JU's last win was on Oct 4, 2009 where the Dolphins won 4-1.
New A-SUN Blood:
There were also some changes to the conference as USC Upstate has left the A-SUN and joined the Big South Conference, so two new members have joined the A-SUN: North Alabama and Liberty.
The University of North Alabama is joining the A-SUN after transferring from NCAA DII Gulf South Conference does not have a men's soccer team, but Liberty does.
Liberty joins the A-SUN after being in the Big South since 1991, but I guess you could say it was a trade since Upstate has joined the Big South.
The Flames are coming off of a 10-6-1 overall record with a 5-3 record in the Big South before falling in the Big South semifinals to High Point University.
FGCU opens the first two games of their season on the road. They will start in North Carolina where they will play Charlotte at 7 P.M. on Aug. 24, and then travel two hours south to Clinton, South Carolina to face Presbyterian Aug. 26 at 1 P.M. before opening their first home match against #6 Wake Forest on Sep. 1 at 7 P.M.
After traveling to Statesboro to face Georgia Southern in the "Battle of the Eagles" on Sept. 7 at 7 P.M., FGCU will return to action at home and face USF on Sept. 15 and Cal State Fullerton on Sept. 19 at 7 P.M. before beginning conference on the road against NJIT on Sept. 22 at 3 P.M.
FGCU will then return home to face FAU on Tuesday Sept. 25 at 7 P.M. before returning on the road to face Lipscomb Saturday Sept 29 at 8 P.M. and then FIU on Wednesday Oct. 3 at 7 P.M.
The Eagles will then return home for conference play as they prepare for Stetson on Oct 6 at 7 P.M. and new A-SUN member Liberty on Tuesday Oct. 9 at 7 P.M.
FGCU will then return for their final two non-conference as they play UCF on Tuesday, Oct. 16 at 7 P.M. and Omaha on Saturday Oct. 20 at 2 P.M. before closing the conference season with a game at home on Wednesday Oct. 24 at 7 P.M. and on the road against Jacksonville on Saturday Oct. 27 at 7 P.M.
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