Last week was the beginning of the A-Sun Conference Season for men's soccer and four teams came away with unblemished records. As we go into week two of conference play it shall be interesting to see who rebounds from early season losses and who can keep their winning streaks alive.
Undefeated Starts
Four teams started the Atlantic Sun Conference season with unblemished records as Stetson, FGCU and ETSU won both of their matchups, while Jacksonville won its lone contest. The Hatters and Eagles went on the road to defeat Belmont and Lipscomb, while ETSU defeated Campbell and Mercer. Jacksonville opened conference play with the River City Rumble and came away with a 1-0 victory against UNF.
ETSU and FGCU Gain More Ranking Recognition
FGCU earned a national ranking in the Soccer America poll coming in at No. 25, while also earning six votes in the NSCAA National Coaches Poll. To go along with its national ranking, the Eagles continued to be ranked in the South Region Poll along with ETSU. Both teams dropped one spot in the rankings to seventh and ninth despite winning both of their games in the week. The Eagles are the first ranked team for the A-Sun since Campbell in 2008.
Campbell – Mr. Team October?
The Fighting Camels have been spectacular in the month of October traditionally as Campbell has posted a 21-2-3 record in its last 26 games. During that time, Campbell’s offense has nearly doubled its opponent’s goals, 50-26. So far in October, the Camels defeated USC Upstate 1-0 on Saturday and tied Furman 0-0 on Tuesday and have seven games remaining in the month.
Mendoza Leads the Points Race
Stetson’s Jonathan Mendoza, the A-Sun Player of the Week, registered two goals and two assists on the weekend to take the lead of the conference points, but the sophomore isn’t leading the A-Sun in the traditional way. Instead of scoring a lot of goals, Mendoza has been setting up his teammates to build his points total with eight assists on the year and three goals. He leads the conference by three points over Jacksonville’s Darko Karamatic (5G, 1A) and Belmont’s Brandon Tarr (3G, 5A).
Shutouts For All
In the last 11 games played by Atlantic Sun teams, which includes two non-conference games, there have been nine shutouts. Campbell and Stetson claim two shutouts a piece with Lipscomb, Mercer, ETSU, Jacksonville and FGCU posting one each. Three teams in the A-Sun have goals against average that are below 0.75 (Stetson, ETSU and FGCU).
Conference Games This Week
Friday, October 8th
Belmont at UNF – 7 p.m. - ASUN.tv
ETSU at Stetson – 7 p.m. - ASUN.tv
USC Upstate at FGCU – 7 p.m.
Lipscomb at Jacksonville – 7 p.m. - ASUN.tv
Saturday, October 9th
Mercer at Campbell – 4 p.m. - ASUN.tv
Sunday, October 10th
Belmont at Jacksonville – 1 p.m. - ASUN.tv
USC Upstate at Stetson – 1 p.m. - ASUN.tv
Lipscomb at UNF – 2 p.m. - ASUN.tv
ETSU at FGCU –6 p.m.
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