North Florida Upends 11th-Ranked FGCU, 3-2

October 18, 2016

Box Score (PDF)
FORT MYERS, Fla. – North Florida (7-3-1, 3-0 ASUN) scored three unanswered goals including the eventual game-winner by freshman Mikey Connell in the 64th minute to take down No. 11 FGCU (10-3-1, 2-1 ASUN) in a crucial conference road win. The victory is the first ever by the Ospreys over a Top-25 opponent.
 
Goals
1' – FGCU: Albert Ruiz (Assist: Arion Sobers-Assue)
13' – FGCU: Albert Ruiz (Assist: Arion Sobers-Assue)
29' – UNF: Adrian Nunez (Assist: Cormac Begley) Scored of 24's rebound
58' – UNF: Adrian Nunez (Assist: Aidan D'Mello) *Header to foot of 10
64' – UNF: Mikey Connell (Assist: Adrian Nunez)
 
Match Summary
Things looked bleak for the Ospreys over the first 13 minutes of play as FGCU's national-leading offense flexed its muscle with two goals off the foot of Albert Ruiz. The junior striker added two his national scoring lead with his 13th and 14th goals of the season. His first of the night came just 18 seconds into the game, the fastest goal in the ASUN this season.
 
The Ospreys countered with a two-goal scorer of their own in Adrian Nunez and were able to tie the game up in the 58th minute. To cut the initial FGCU lead in half, Nunez cleaned up a Cormac Begley rocket that was deflected by FGCU keeper Sawyer Jackman in the 29th minute. He knotted the game up at two, 12:12 into the second half with a strike from the right side off the box on a neatly placed header pass from Aidan D'Mello.
 
A little over six minutes after tying the game, Nunez delivered a perfect lead pass to Connelly who buried his first collegiate goal into the left corner of the net for the game-winning score.
 

Additional Game Notes
-Five points (2g, 1a) by Nunez are the most by an Osprey this season and tied for the second most by any player in a single game in the program's D-1 era (2005-present).
-Coming into the game, the Ospreys had been winless in their previous 10 games against Top-25 opponents.
-The Ospreys held a 10-3 shot advantage in the second half, despite FGCU scoring on two of their first three shots. For the game, the Ospreys outshot the Eagles, 18-8.
-North Florida goalkeeper Juanes Fajardo played the final 45 minutes in net and earned his second win of the season. He made the Ospreys only save of the night, a dangerous chance by Dennis Zapata in the 86th minute.
-FGCU came into the match with a nation's longest win streak, 10 games and Tuesday was the first regular season loss to an ASUN opponent since 2008.
-Tuesday was also the first time FGCU had been held to under three goals since Sept. 8. The Eagles average 3.38 goals per game, the most in the country.
-In addition to the 29-match FGCU ASUN regular season unbeaten streak snapped, the Ospreys halted the Eagles' 25-match home streak against ASUN opponents with a 2-1 triumph in the ASUN Tournament back in 2013.

From Coach Marinatos
How it happened
"Aside from the first 10 minutes of the game I thought we bounced back and outplayed them. Instead of getting down on ourselves I think came from behind hungry after going down 2-0. We got some great play from our bench, (Adrian) Nunez put together a player of the week performance after not starting and that's what you need to come out on top against team's like this."
 
On the historic win
"Obviously they are a great team and that shows in their ability to score along with how they are regarded nationally. They put us in a pretty adverse situation in the beginning part of the match. I'm proud of how the team responded and happy for the seniors, this is a big win for our program, I hope the guys get credit they deserve nationally for their hard work this season."
 
What the Win Means
"At the end of the day, sets us up to be a high seed in the ASUN tournament which has been our goal from the beginning. As a team we're going to shift our focus to three very tough opponents remaining on our schedule."
 
Up Next: The Ospreys will continue ASUN play this weekend when they travel to Stetson Saturday night for a 7:00 p.m. match.

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