FORT MYERS, FLA. – The Jacksonville University men's soccer team traveled to Fort Myers, Florida on Saturday night to face Florida Gulf Coast University in their first of three consecutive road games. The Dolphins (4-4-2) fell to the Eagles by a final score of 4-2.

 "I thought our performance was positive. We had some good moments in the first half where we should have put the ball away. They are a very good team and they put chances away," commented Head Coach Mauricio B. Ruiz. 

Jacksonville came out eager as they were looking to get on the board first and recorded six shots in the first half. Less than two minutes into the game sophomore forward Inti Antunez fired the first shot. At 7:54 freshman midfielder Mason Tunbridge attempted to open scoring and quickly after Antunez took another chance to record his second shot of the evening.

At 18:26 FGCU got on the board first as O'Vonte Mullings single-handedly opened scoring.

Tunbridge got off another shot in the 30th minute that resulted in a corner kick for JU. At the 35-minute mark freshman midfielder Jake Duncan-Smith came charging down the field and found himself with an open net but the ball went off the foot of a FGCU defender to go wide of the net. As a result, Jacksonville earned a corner kick that allowed junior midfielder Steven Saunders to record his first shot of the night with a ball that landed in the hands of the FGCU keeper.

In the 36th minute Mullings recorded the second goal of the evening and quickly after Aiden Jokomba increased the FGCU lead to 3-0 with an assist from Miguel Perez. After the first 45 minutes of play FGCU held the lead.

Less than one minute into the second half junior midfielder Saunders took the ball down the field on a breakaway causing the keeper to come out of the box, but he was able to make the save. The ball remained in scoring territory allowing for junior midfielder Nazar Deputat and senior forward Jesus Colombo to each take shots. After a free kick was cleared by the FGCU defense JU was able to get the ball back down the field and freshman defender Gabriel Simoneau recorded the first goal of the night for Jacksonville in the 67^th minute.

In the 76^th minute Joao Burti was assisted by Max Edwards to record the fourth goal  for FGCU.

In the 83^rd minute Colombo, assisted by Deputat shot the ball in between the legs of the FGCU goalie to bring the score to 4-2. Colombo is recognized as the Hodges Mazda Player Of The Game. Deputat took one more shot in the final minute of the game. Despite a hard-fought effort FGCU was able to maintain the lead for a 4-2 final.

"In the second half I thought we were positive, we got back into the game and gave ourselves a good chance to get back, but we just fell short. Our whole group played hard. Everyone had a good reaction to being down and everyone got themselves back into the game. It was a collective effort from the team," Ruiz concluded.

The Dolphins will continue their trio of road games on Tuesday night as they face USF.