JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Atlantic Sun Conference title defense will commence this weekend for the North Florida men's soccer program. The Ospreys will co-host the 5^th Annual Mike Gibbs Tournament and welcome Winthrop and UNC Greensboro to Hodges Stadium.

Friday's season opener against defending Big South Conference Champion Winthrop will be at 7:00 p.m. The first 100 students will receive a UNF soccer scarf and fans 21 & over can take advantage of 2-for-1 beer night. The Ospreys will conclude the tournament on Sunday night with defending Southern Conference Champion, UNC Greensboro at 7:00 p.m. Both contests will be streamed live on ASUNTV.
 

Game Details
Date	Friday, Aug. 26 | Sunday Aug. 28
Time	7:00 p.m. (Both Games)
Location	Jacksonville, Fla. (Hodges Stadium)
Opponents	Winthrop (Friday) | UNCG (Sunday)
Coverage	ASUNTV | Live Stats (Both Games)

North Florida Men's Soccer Preview
Defending the Throne: Appearing in the last three ASUN Championship games, the Ospreys broke through in a big way in 2015 by defeating USC Upstate 7-0 to earn the program's first ever NCAA Tournament berth. The Ospreys were picked to finish second in the 2016 ASUN Preseason Coaches Poll behind 2015 regular season co-champion FGCU. Both the Eagles and the Ospreys posted a 4-0-1 record in ASun play last season.

Returning Offense: The Ospreys welcome back three of their top five scorers from a season ago, including 2015 Second Team All-Conference selection, Milan Kovacs. He comes into his senior season with seven career goals, including four in last year's historic season. Sophomores Joshua Castellanos and Ivan Castro will look to build on an outstanding freshman campaigns that yielded five goals and two assist between the both of them. Senior Solstad rounds out the trio of 2015 second teamers and has tallied nine goals in three seasons with the Ospreys.

Experienced Back Line: Senior Jay Bolt will anchor a veteran group of Osprey defenders.  Bolt has garnered NSCAA All-Region honors for the past two seasons and has been recognized by the ASUN every year since arriving on campus in 2013. He will join teammates Slywester Szczesniewicz, Solstad, Bayley Cashion and Aidan D'Mello on a very formidable Osprey defense that historically has been one of the best in the ASUN.

Challenging Slate: The Ospreys will be tested right from the start squaring off against conference favorites, Winthrop (Big South) and UNC Greensboro (SoCon). In addition, the Osprey will take on 2015 NCAA Tournament qualifiers FIU (Sept. 9) and Denver (Sept. 17). The Ospreys will also be tested in non-conference play by N.C. State (Sept. 5), USF (Sept. 14) and UCF (Sept. 21).

What to Watch for This Weekend
Winthrop:  The Eagles are somewhat depleted from their 2015 Conference Championship team, returning just three starters. Max Hasenstab, the 2015 Big South MVP will miss the entire season with an injury but midfielders Marco Gatzke and James Skonicki headline a crop of 16 returners for first-year Head Coach Daniel Ridenhour's squad. Ridenhour has been with the program for 12 seasons and succeeds Rich Posipanko who retired after his 27 seasons at Winthrop.

UNCG:  The Spartans were tabbed to repeat as regular season champions in the 2016 SoCon Coaches Poll. A total of 18 letterwinners return for Head Coach Justin Maullin (7^th Season) including four preseason All-Conference picks. Among its returners, UNCG will have its leading scorer, Leeroy Maguraushe and starting goalkeeper Jon Milligan on the pitch. Maguraushe was named the 2015 SoCon Freshman of the Year after scoring eight goals and tallying two assists.

About the Mike Gibbs Memorial Tournament: Established in 2012, The Mike Gibbs Memorial Tournament is named after former UNF men's soccer Mike Gibbs. The Orange Park, Fla. native was a member of the Ospreys from 1993-1995 and passed away in 2003. A endowed scholarship in his name benefits current North Florida student-athletes. The four-team tournament is hosted on the campus' both UNF and Jacksonville and include Winthrop and Jacksonville in 2016. A champion and All-Tournament Team are announced at the conclusion of all four games.

Full Tournament Schedule
Friday, Aug. 26         Winthrop at North Florida   7:00 p.m.
Friday, Aug. 26         UNC Greensboro at Jacksonville               7:00 p.m.
 
Sunday, Aug. 28       Winthrop at Jacksonville            5:00 p.m.
Sunday, Aug. 28       UNC Greensboro at North Florida      7:00 p.m.
 
Two points for win, one point for tie, 
Tiebreaker(s) Head-to-head/Goal Differential

Past Champions:
2012: Georgia State
2013: North Florida
2014: North Florida
2015: Jacksonville
 
Full Tournament History