FORT MYERS, Fla. – The 2022 campaign officially kicks off with a pair of games this week as the FGCU men’s soccer team travels to South Florida on Thursday night (7 PM, ESPN+) before hosting Northwestern at Pickering Field on Sunday night (7 p.m., Facebook Live) for the home opener.
Fans who come out Sunday night for the home opener will receive free magnets and posters. Beer and wine will also be available for purchase, for ages 21 and older, 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 tie at Pickering Field. The last 10 meetings have featured five ties with FGCU picking up three wins in the other five contests. The scoring in the series has also been close with the Bulls holding a slight 20-18 advantage overall.
Additionally, the matchup pits the Eagles against the program’s former coach, Bob Butehorn, who posted a 95-62-23 record, highlighted by four NCAA Tournament appearances, while leading FGCU in his first decade-long tenure. that included a 52-18 -7 mark in the ASUN and six regular season titles.
For Sunday’s home opener, it will mark just the second time FGCU and Northwestern have met on the field. The Wildcats took a 2-1 decision during the 2016 season in Evanston for the next game.
Northwestern will officially open the season Thursday night when it hosts Chicago State. Fans will see a familiar face in the Wildcats lineup 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 return to Pickering Field after transferring to Northwestern as a graduate student for his senior season.
The Eagles will have a new look overall for next season after graduating Dudley, O’Vonte MullingsAND Gustavo Vasconcelos who were each among the best 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 in FGCU history with 63 points and 28 goals. Vasconcelos was a three-time ASUN Goalkeeper of the Year, the first in program history, and has returned to the program this year as a graduate assistant coach working with the goalies.
Upper fifth year 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 listed as the fans’ choice for ASUN Player of the Year via the league’s Facebook page.
While the Eagles return 16 players from last season’s squad, FGCU also welcomes 19 freshmen for the upcoming season. Nine of them are transfers including 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 final four regular season games to enter the postseason as the third seed in the ASUN Tournament.
For daily 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 receive 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 the 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 second head coach in program history. Cormier has led FGCU to a 33-31-12 (.520) record overall, including a 19-9-4 (.656) mark in ASUN play. The Eagles have reached the ASUN Tournament semifinals in 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 at the University of Vermont for the previous 13 seasons. He won 14 games with the Catamounts in 2016 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. During his time with Vermont, Cormier led the program in the America East tournament in 12 of 13 seasons, making five title game appearances, winning two tournament crowns, claiming one regular season championship and advancing to three NCAA tournament, including a second pair. Round presentations. Cormier holds a 147-120-58 (.543) overall record as a head coach in his 16 seasons at the helm.
EAGLE CAMPAIGN
NEED A TEAM to achieve our newest goal – a $10 million campaign to address student-athlete needs for continued academic success, life skills, mental health, nutrition and strength and conditioning, as well as departmental expansion and improvement needs of the facility, as well as mentoring and leadership training for coaches and staff. The name embodies our mission and the goal 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), the chosen charities of FGCU Athletics. 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 combined 45 teams or individuals competing in the NCAA Championships. In 2022, the men’s golf team became the first program to win an at-large NCAA Tournament berth. Eight FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport — including women’s basketball (No. 20, 2021-22), beach volleyball (No. 20, 2022) and men’s soccer (2018, 2019) and women’s football (2018) as the four 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 nationally, ahead of several Power-5 and FBS institutions. In 2018-19, the Eagles had an ASUN and Florida State’s top seven teams earn the NCAA Public Recognition Award for their rate of academic progress in their sport. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.50 classroom GPA in the fall 2020 semester and has surpassed the university’s overall undergraduate population for 26 consecutive semesters. The past five semesters (Fall 2019 – Spring 2022) saw another milestone as all 15 programs achieved a cumulative team GPA of 3.0 or higher. 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–
