Bulls Head to the Eagles’ Nest to Face FGCU
Matchup: USF Bulls (2-4-0) vs. FGCU Eagles (2-2-0)
Date: Saturday, Sept. 15, 2018
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Fort Myers, Fla. // FGCU Soccer Complex
Watch: FGCU Facebook Live
Live Stats: FGCUAthletics.com
Twitter Updates: @USFMSoc
Tickets: FGCUAthletics.com
TAMPA, Fla., Sept 13, 2018 --The USF men's soccer team will travel to Fort Myers, Fla., to take on Florida Gulf Coast in a rivalry matchup on Saturday night at FGCU Soccer Complex at 7 p.m.
Bulls Ready to Run Against the Eagles
The Bulls head into the match following their 4-1 win against the FAU Owls, where USF had three different goal scorers.
Alex Zis (Ontario, Canada) led the way with two goals off of set pieces. His first goal came off a free-kick right outside of the box, while his second goal was a well-struck penalty kick after teammate
Avionne Flanagan (Baltimore, Maryland) had won the spot kick.
Aside from winning Zis' scoring penalty kick, Flanagan also added to the Bulls' overall tally with a goal of his own. Flanagan's goal came moments after the Bulls took the lead late in the first-half via an assist by
Henrique Gallina, of Atibaia, Brazil. The assist is the first of Gallina's career, while Flanagan's goal is his first of the season.
Trey Jackson (Ocala, Fla.), was the first to get into the action, though, as he opened the scoring for the Bulls in the 17
thminute. Jackson scored on his first touch after coming off the bench, as he curled in a left-footed strike from outside the box.
The Bulls enjoyed their four-goal display without the services of
Tomasz Skublak (Hamilton, Canada), who will look to get back into the action on Saturday night against the Eagles. Skublak is the reigning American Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week but was forced to sit out against FAU due to a red card he had picked up in the victory over the Ohio State Buckeyes.
USF is on a two-game winning streak and played its second consecutive toughest non-conference schedules in recent memory, beginning the 2018 campaign against four-straight opponents who saw top-25 rankings. In 2017, the Bulls started out with four top-20 teams plus two more that were receiving votes.
The Bulls will be looking for goalkeeper, Harrison Devenish Meares (Sydney, Australia), to keep up his solid form. Through six matches on the season, Meares has recorded 22 saves while only allowing seven goals.
"There's always going to be a lot of passion from me going back [to Fort Myers]," coach
Bob Butehorn said when asked about his return to FGCU. "I love that place and I enjoyed the time I had there, but now this is my team and we're going to try to build a good game plan and go in there and get a W."
Call it a Homecoming
From 2007 to 2016, coach Butehorn was at the helm of FGCU's men's soccer program before being appointed as USF's men's head soccer coach in December of 2016. In his 10 seasons at FGCU, the Eagles boasted an overall record of 95-62-23 that includes an imposing 52-18-7 record in the Atlantic Sun Conference. Butehorn was the driving force behind building FGCU's men's soccer program from the ground up. Saturday night will be the first time that coach Butehorn travels to Fort Myers to face his former team, after the Eagles visited Tampa in Butehorn's first year at the helm.
Butehorn has coached in all 11 meetings over eight years between the Bulls and the Eagles, and will be leading the Bulls for the second time in green and gold. Butehorn is credited with building the program at FGCU and creating the rivalry between the two Florida programs, who have frequently met in the regular season and postseason since 2009.
The Opponent
FGCU comes into the match against USF off the heels of a 2-0 victory over Georgia Southern. The Eagles are currently 2-0-2 on the season, with one of their two losses coming at the hands of the then-top ranked team in the nation, Wake Forest.
The Eagles leading goal scorer is O'Vonte Mullings. Mullings has scored three goals in four games and on 11 shots, with six being on goal. Through FGCU's opening four matches, they have been rotating goalkeepers. One of their two keepers, Gust Vasconcelos, has saved 15 shots in just only two matches played. While this will be the Bulls sixth match of the season, this FGCU has played just four and welcome USF as just their second opponent at home.
Notable
- The Bulls own a 4-3-4 series advantage against FGCU. Last season, USF and FGCU played to a draw in Tampa.
- The Bulls have six goals from four scorers this season, while Tomasz Skublak and Alex Zis each have scored two goals this season.
- Harrison Devenish-Meares owns the goalkeeper position for the Bulls and has seen all 90 minutes in USF's six matches.
Follow Along
Live stats and a live stream will be available from FGCUAthletics.com. Fans can also follow live updates from @USFMSOC on Twitter.
Up Next
The Bulls will open American Athletic Conference play and head to Storrs, Conn., to face the University of Connecticut Huskies on Saturday, Sept. 22 at 7 p.m.
About USF Men's Soccer
The Bulls concluded the 2017 regular season with a 6-6-4 overall record and finished fifth in the American Athletic Conference with a 3-2-2 mark. Head Coach Bob Butehorn leads the Bulls in his second season at the helm in 2018.
Follow the men's soccer team on social media (Twitter| Facebook| Instagram) and visit GoUSFBulls.com for the most up-to-date information.
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