Men's Soccer Plays to 2-2 Draw at Florida Gulf Coast

Saturday, October 5

Fort Myers, Fla.

4 p.m.

University of North Florida

3-5-3, 1-1-1

Florida Gulf Coast

2-6-2, 1-1-1

North Florida

FGCU

10/5/2024 10:30:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

Acuna Scores Equalizer in 87th Minute

FORT MYERS, Fla. - North Florida men's soccer (3-5-3, 1-1-1) fought hard through all 90 minutes to force a 2-2 draw and earn league points on the road against Florida Gulf Coast (2-6-2, 1-1-1) Saturday evening.

The Ospreys found their answer in the 87th minute off a corner kick, with Jacob Harris funneling it into the box for Joaquin Acuna to finish with a header goal. It was the second goal of the season for him after earning his first last weekend against Jacksonville.

David Perez also scored in the eighth minute for UNF to put in his fourth goal of the conference season. It was also the third straight game that Perez has scored within the first 10 minutes of a match.

GOALS

4' | Shoki Yoshida (Jose Escobar & Cao Chaves) - FGCU
8' | David Perez (Rentaro Miyakawa & Luc Granitur) - UNF
65' | Alon Drey (Penalty Kick) - FGCU
87' | Joaquin Acuna (Jacob Harris) - UNF

HOW IT HAPPENED

After a brief 30-minute delay to kick off the game due to weather, FGCU scored early but UNF responded four minutes later with a ball into the box for Perez to equalize.
UNF had immediate shot attempts from Jaylen Yearwood and Tyler Prebenda, but each attempt was wide of the post.
Back and forth play continued for the majority of the first half to go into the break tied at one a piece.
Just two minutes into the second half, another weather delay struck, but the Ospreys returned to play almost two hours later.
In the 65th minute, FGCU was awarded a penalty kick and executed to retake a 2-1 lead.
Angus Taylor and Prebenda each had close shot-on-goal attempts late in the game, but were denied at the net.
In the closing minutes of the match, Harris connected with Acuna to equalize once again and steal a point on the road in conference play.

RECORDS

North Florida | 3-5-3, 1-1-1
Florida Gulf Coast | 2-6-2, 1-1-1

QUICK KICKS

Perez earned his fourth goal of the season, while Acuna picked up his second.
Both Perez and Acuna have scored a combined five goals in the past two matches.
Luc Granitur expands his team-high assist total to four on the season.
Rentaro Miyakawa sits right behind Granitur with three, while Jacob Harris earned the first assist of his Osprey career as well.
The Ospreys held the heavy margin in both shots (16-6) and shots on goal (8-3).
Prebenda and Taylor led the team in shots on goal with two each.
Acuna, Prebenda and Anton Khelil also had a team-high three shots each as well.
It was UNF's first league points earned at FGCU since 2016

COACH'S THOUGHTS

"The boys battled every adversity today and showed once again we can score at any moment. The character to keep believing in what we are trying to do paid dividends at the end. FGCU is a tough place to come and play, so we knew it was going to be a tough game. It's important to take points in each conference game and we did that today. We now look forward to our next game at Lipscomb."
-- head coach Jamie Davies

UP NEXT

The Ospreys stay on the road with a trip up north to play against the ASUN's defending champions, Lipscomb, on Saturday, Oct. 12, with kickoff set for 8 p.m. ET, in Nashville, Tenn.