Sunday, August 31, 2008

COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Florida Gulf Coast University men's soccer team captured the largest victory in program history by defeating Penn State 1-0 in its final game in the Bert and Iris Wolstein Classic at Jesse Owens Stadium. The win brings the Eagles to 1-1 on the season and secured the team a second-place finish in the tournament that also featured Ohio State and University of Central Florida.

The win marks the Eagles first victory over a Big Ten opponent in the program's history.

"Things went well for us today because we prepared ourselves and played the way we want to play," said head coach Bob Butehorn. "Penn State is a nice name for us to beat, but these are the expectations we have for this program. We will continue to move forward."

The Eagles stepped onto the field after losing a 2-1 heartbreaker to national runner-up Ohio State less than 24 hours prior to Sunday's match. Despite Penn State having almost a full-day of additional rest (because lightning postponed the Eagles first match against the host team), the Eagles came out flying and got on the board early with a goal in the 11th minute from sophomore Matt O'Shaughnessy (Trinity, Fla.).

As FGCU forced the Nittany Lions to shift and lose their balance with quick movement in the midfield, freshman Scott Harrison (Cocoa, Fla.) found the seam he was looking for and slipped freshman Josey Portillo (Metairie, La.) in behind the Penn State defense. Pulling the keeper from his line, Portillo dropped a perfect ball to the foot of O'Shaughnessy who put it away.