FGCU MSOC vs JU Recap

The FGCU men's soccer team (5-6-2, 2-0-1 A-SUN) took down Jacksonville (4-4-2, 0-3-1 A-SUN) by a score of 4-2, led by sophomore O'Vonte Mullings' brace, Saturday night at the FGCU Soccer Complex.

With the win, the Eagles are now tied for second with UNF (3-5-2, 2-1-1 A-SUN) in the conference standings with seven points. Stetson (7-5-1, 3-0-1) sits atop the league with 10 points

"Tonight was a good response from our last game Tuesday night against FIU," said head coach Jesse Cormier. "We started off a little slowly but I thought we came into it, we had some good looks and buried our chances. There's still work and room to improve but you always want to get three points, at home, in conference, so tonight was a big result for us."

FGCU snagged a 3-0 lead in the first 45 minutes of play, highlighted by Mullings scoring twice. Collectively on offense, the Eagles launched 12 shots with nine coming on frame. The scoring began in the 19th minute as Mullings intercepted a JU pass atop the 18-yard box beating the keeper for the 1-0 lead. The Ontario native then made it 2-0 in the 37th minute (sixth goal of the season) using the right-edge of the six-yard box, his cross was deflected by a JU defender, finding the back of the net.

Just before the intermission, freshman Aiden Jokomba gave FGCU the 3-0 lead in the 40th minute. Senior Miguel Perez pounced on his defender stealing the ball and made a pass to his left finding a sprinting Jokomba who tucked it away to the near-post from inside the penalty box (third goal of the year). It was Perez's third helper this season.

Coming out of the break, FGCU kept pressing, firing off seven shots in the opening 25 minutes of action. JU made it a 3-1 deficit in the 68th minute thanks to Gabriel Simoneau. Just over 10 minutes later, senior Joao Burti gave the Eagles the much-needed 4-1 cushion with his second tally of the season. Junior Max Edwards dribbled with space along the left-side of the pitch as he passed to his right finding Burti who then volleyed one over the keeper's shoulder for the score. It was Edward's first assist of the season.

The Dolphins made the contest interesting scoring in the 84th minute as the FGCU backline would hold its ground, yielding one shot from that point.

FGCU launched a season-high 23 shots (11 on target) Saturday night with senior Shak Adams registering a game-high five shots.

Starting goalie redshirt junior Connor Gavigan (2-2) collected four saves (two in the second period).

Up Next:
The Eagles are off until next Saturday, Oct. 19 where they will face Liberty (4-9-0, 0-3-0 A-SUN) on the road. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m.