FGCU Men's Soccer Turning Season Around

Courtesy of Linwood Ferguson

Dunk City didn't look so bright for Bob Butehorn's squad on Mon. Sept. 23. They were 0-5-1 on the season and had just returned from a West Coast trip with two demoralizing losses. The Eagles were blown out by No. 6 Washington 5-0 and then lost an OT nail-biter to Seattle.

"We'll take the lessons we learned this weekend and continue to work on moving our game forward," Butehorn said after the loss to Seattle.

Three weeks later, FGCU is standing atop the Atlantic Sun standings with a 4-0-0 conference record and a pep in their step that isn't unusual when on a six game winning streak.

Interestingly enough, their six game streak started in none other than Philadelphia, Penn., the site of FGCU's historic upset over Georgetown.

After the Eagles' inability to capitalize in overtime before Philly, Felipe DeSousa, with the help of some fancy footwork, was able to send one in the bank of the net, capturing FGCU's first win of the season.

Then staying on the road, the Blue and Green traveled to Princeton and went into another overtime period. This time it was freshman Will Suedois who netted the Eagles' winning goal. It was the first of his young collegiate career.

“I think the most important item for us was that we shut a team out at its home venue where it hadn’t lost this year," Butehorn said.

Now, FGCU has ripped off four A-Sun wins in a row, two in Dunk City and two on the road. While this phenomenal feat is definitely the product of a great team effort, the Eagles have had special help from freshman Isaiah Madrid.

The Albuquerque product scored three goals, one game winner, on only eight shots in FGCU's two matches this weekend. This, along with tallying an assist, landed him as the A-Sun Co-Player of the Week.

Now the Eagles will look to defend their winning streak and undefeated conference record as they host A-Sun foe Mercer on Thursday, Oct. 17 at 7:00 p.m.

All quotes courtesy of FGCUAthletics.com