JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The field was set. The weather was right. The players were ready. Unfortunately for the Jacksonville University men's soccer team, nothing else seemed to fall in their favor as they dropped their Atlantic Sun opener, 3-1, to Florida Gulf Coast on Wednesday evening.

"We stuck to our game plan early on and were fortunate enough to go up 1-0," said Head Coach Mauricio Ruiz. "A couple of mistakes allowed them to get back in the game to make it 1-1 and at that point I thought our guys lost a little bit of their confidence to keep to our game plan. We still did some good things after that but coming into the second half we didn't make the necessary adjustments."

The Dolphins may have scored their fastest goal in program history in Wednesday's affair as sixteen seconds ticked off the clock and JU held a 1-0 advantage. On the opening possession, the Dolphins sent the ball deep into FGCU's box and a miscue between the Eagle's left back and their goalkeeper allowed it to slowly roll over the goal line.

The early edge, however, didn't stick for long as Felipe DeSousa, the team's leading goal scorer, tied the match at 1-all in the 22nd minute on an assist from Miguel Jaime.

"The second half was a bit of a scramble," continued Ruiz. "I don't think we really believed that we could have won the game. If we come out and play only moments, then it'll be a long game regardless of who we play. If we come out and play connected like we did in the first 15 minutes, then we give ourselves a shot to beat anybody, including Florida Gulf Coast. We are good enough to play against them but it can't just be me believing that, they have to believe too."

The tie stretched through the second frame until FGCU tallied another score at the 67:09 mark. Arion Sobers-Assue flicked the ball over the head of Meny for goal No. 2 and he later assisted on the 3-1 goal at 71:10.

Though outshot, the Dolphins were more accurate in their shot selection with five of their eight attempts heading for the net. Rijad Kobiljar nearly tied the match at 2-2 but in the end had to tip his cap to the FGCU keeper who leaped across the net to record the save on the 30-yard rocket. 

Jacksonville (3-6, 0-1 A-Sun) will have three days to regroup before facing intercity rival North Florida on Saturday, Oct. 4. The River City Rumble is set to kick off at 7 p.m.