Two tough games on the road in California as they lose 2-1 against Loyola Marymount and beat UC Irvine 2-1. While still looking for their first home win, FGCU men's soccer returned home on Thursday night to face the San Francisco Dons.
It was hot and humid at the FGCU Soccer Complex. So quiet the fans watched their team chased the ball all over the field. There were some hard fouls and exchange words, but both teams still played with respect and looked for a way to take the first lead.
The Dons started their aggression early in the first five to ten minutes. They wanted to waste no time, but FGCU's defense and Jackman refused to let them on the scoreboard early.
"I don't know what it is. We started last couple games very slow, both first and second half. It's something we need to work on," FGCU head coach Bob Butehom said.
FGCU's defense was solid even though the offense found it hard to move forward and putting more pressure on the Dons' defense.
"I think we are becoming a better team defensively, and that makes me really happy," Albert Ruiz, FGCU forward of Barcelona, Spain, said.
The Dons began with the majority of possessions and chances, but none were on target and the Eagles eventually settle in. FGCU'S first good chance came in the 11th minutes when Ruiz and Zapata worked together to set up Zapata which shot just missed the net to the left.
Late in the first half, FGCU found themselves into the game when Robert Ferrer found Caleb George on the left wing to beat two of the Dons' defender and crossed the ball inside the box to Dylan Sacramento who gave FGCU a 1-0 lead in the 24 minutes of the game.
"I have a lot of shots this year and I need to be more efficient," Sacramento said. "I got a little tap in which is my favorite kind of goal because it's the easy one."
Even FGCU took a 1-0 lead into the first half, they came out flat in the second. San Francisco came to the aggressors and had several quality chances to level the score, but FGCU pulled with the second goal by Albert Ruiz to make it 2-0.
The Dons came out with more pressure despite being down by two. Late in the 78th minutes, Deluna Christian caught FGCU defenders sleeping when he crossed the ball to his teammate David Garrett on the top of the box who then scored to give his team a 1-2.
After holding 8-6 shots in the first half, the Dons finished the game with 18-13 shots and 12-5 advantages in the corner. FGCU took its first home win of the season and looking forward to improved in all aspect.
"It was a good win. It was a really difficult game but I knew it was going to be difficult because coming back from the West coast we were really heavy legged. I'm pleased that they battled but we showed some signs of immaturity that we need to improve for the next one," Bob Butehom said.
"It feels really good. We had a hard time trying not to get scored but as long as we are solid on defense, we are going to win a lot of games," Ruiz said.
After a hard-fought game in the last 12 minutes, FGCU maintained the lead, earning a 2-1 win to mark their first home win of the season.
FGCU needs to improve in all aspect to avoid those slow starts and not get scored on early in the game. FGCU got lucky on the last two home games, but this win gave the fans something to celebrate. They gave the fans one more reason to keep believing in them throughout the season.
