Aron Martinez scored just before halftime, and Florida Gulf Coast men’s soccer added two late goals to defeat Lipscomb 3-0 on Saturday, Oct. 10, at Pickering Field in Fort Myers. The victory was Florida Gulf Coast’s first home win of the season after consecutive draws in conference play. Florida Gulf Coast improved to 5-5-3 overall and 1-2-2 in the ASUN, while Lipscomb fell to 3-8-1 overall and 2-3-0 in conference play.
Martinez converted a penalty kick after Lipscomb was called for a foul in the box. It was his seventh goal of the season and his second penalty-kick goal. The goal also moved Martinez into an eight-way tie for fifth place in Florida Gulf Coast’s single-season goals record book.
Florida Gulf Coast produced 14 first-half shots compared with six for Lipscomb. Lipscomb finished with 14 shots, but only a free kick from just outside the box was on target. Harvey Sellers made the save to preserve the shutout.
Florida Gulf Coast adds two late goals
Brooks Beeman doubled the lead in the 83rd minute, scoring on a cross from Rico Felix. The goal was Beeman’s fourth of the season, moving him into second on the team and into a tie for sixth in the conference. Dani Garcia then finished a breakaway in the 85th minute to complete the scoring.
Felix was tied for second in the ASUN with four assists entering the result. Martinez led the conference in goals, shots with 35 and shots on goal with 18, while his 17 points were tied for the ASUN lead. Martinez also had three assists, which ranked tied for seventh in the conference.
“A 3-0 win speaks for itself,” head coach Oliver Twelvetrees said postgame. “We’ve been working on sharing the ball, we’ve been working on that cohesion … those last two goals were just a perfect example of that. So, great moments, and fantastic to get the first home win of the season. It’s a great atmosphere. Thanks to all the fans for coming out, and a good moment.”
Beeman said the second goal helped Florida Gulf Coast build momentum late in the match.
“That was a huge goal for us,” Beeman said. “We really needed that second goal in this game. We’ve been struggling to get that second goal. Most of our games we scored and we scored first, and we’ve really needed to get that second goal. As soon as we got that second goal, the momentum was flowing and we got that easy goal to finish the game with Dani.”
Florida Gulf Coast travels to Central Arkansas
Florida Gulf Coast improved to 10-2-0 at home all-time against Lipscomb. The result gave the team its first home victory of the season at Pickering Field. Florida Gulf Coast men’s soccer will next play at Central Arkansas on Saturday, Oct. 17, at 7 p.m. ET.
FSB Take
Florida Gulf Coast University’s men’s soccer team turned a one-goal halftime lead into a 3-0 home victory through late goals from Beeman and Garcia. Martinez’s penalty kick provided the opening goal, while the result moved Florida Gulf Coast to 1-2-2 in ASUN play. The win also marked the program’s first home victory of the season.
Source: Original report