JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Florida Gulf Coast University’s men’s soccer team opened up a 2-0 lead Saturday night against Jacksonville in an Atlantic Sun Graphite Division match at Southern Oak Stadium, but a pair of goals by the Dolphins in the final 5:28 forced the Eagles to settle for a 2-2 tie.

The tie keeps FGCU winless in its last six matches (0-4-2), while the Dolphins are now winless in their last seven outings (0-4-3) as both teams finished the first half of their conference schedule.

FGCU (4-6-3, 0-2-1) struck early, as Salvador Martinez Romo scored this third goal of the season off an assist by Ignatius DeMark just 4:25 into the match to give the Eagles a 1-0 advantage. Neither team was able to find the back of the net for the remainder of the opening half, sending FGCU into halftime with a 1-0 lead.

FGCU outshot Jacksonville, 6-4, in the first half, including 5-1 in shots on goal. The Eagles had three corner kicks to the Dolphins’ one and a total of 10 fouls were called in the opening 45 minutes, six on Jacksonville and four on FGCU. The Eagles were the recipients of the half’s only yellow card.

Jacksonville (2-6-3, 0-1-2) pushed for an equalizer early in the second half, but FGCU keeper Oliver Weng made three saves in the first 11 minutes, including two on back-to-back shots by the Dolphins, to keep the Eagles in front. After staving off the Dolphins’ offensive attacks, FGCU doubled its lead to 2-0 at 61:09, when Martinez Romo netted his second goal of the match off an assist from Victor Lopes.

Jacksonville trimmed the FGCU lead to 2-1 at 84:32 on a goal by Nahne Paulsen off a Logan Hall assist, and the Dolphins completed their comeback with 45 seconds left, when Leonardo Davi C Santos scored on a shot in the lower left corner of the net to tie the match, 2-2.

For the match, Jacksonville outshot FGCU, 14-9, including 8-7 in shots on goal. Both teams had four corner kicks and the teams split the fouls (11 apiece) and yellow cards (two each) as well.

Martinez Romo and Leo Schorr had two shots apiece (both on goal) for FGCU and Pedro Arcoverde added two shots (one on goal) for the Eagles in the draw. Weng made six saves in net to pick up the tie for the Eagles.

FGCU is now off until Oct. 18, when the Eagles host North Florida (10-3, 3-0) in another ASun Graphite Division matchup. North Florida won the first meeting this season, 2-1, in Jacksonville on Oct. 4. Kickoff for the rematch is at 7 p.m. and if you can’t make it out to Pickering Field to support the Eagles in person, you can still catch all the action, as the match will be streamed on ESPN+.

For the first time in program history, FGCU is offering fall season tickets for its soccer programs, with packages starting at $60. Fans who purchase season tickets for either the men’s or women’s soccer teams will receive a season ticket combo for both programs. For mini-plan options, click here. For single-game tickets, click here. Single-game tickets start at just $12.

 

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