BUIES
CREEK, N.C. - Andres Navas' free kick in the 58th minute was the
game's lone goal and No.-24 Florida Gulf Coast handed Campbell its
first home regular season Atlantic Sun Conference loss in three
years Thursday night at the Eakes Athletic Complex.
The Eagles (9-2-2, 5-0-0) extended their winning streak to seven
games and unbeaten stretch to nine on the FIU transfer's first goal
in an FGCU uniform along with Adam Glick's sixth shutout of the
year.
Campbell (4-4-4, 2-2-0), which saw its three-match unbeaten string
halted, dropped a regular season league contest for the first time
since a 1-0 setback to North Florida on Oct. 6 2007. CU had won
11-straight at home during the span before Thursday's loss.
Navas' goal was set up by an Aleksi Tossavainen hand ball just
outside the Campbell box. A sophomore from Miami, Navas curled a
right-footed shot over the wall and into the upper right corner of
the net at the far post.
The FGCU goal came just a minute after Campbell threatened when Ben
Iiames headed down a corner kick from Mitchell Cardenas that Glick
had to parry. The rebound fell to Iiames feet, and his shot from
short range rattled around the six-yard box before it caromed
away.
Campbell had chances to equalize in the latter stages. Glick held
Cardenas' low shot from outside the area that traveled through a
tangle of players in the 77th minute. Just three minutes later,
Cardenas fed a wide-open Keegan Terry at the top of the area, but
the sophomore's right-footed effort sailed beyond the left
post.
Both teams had chances in a scoreless first half. The Eagles
threatened in the 3rd minute when Donovan Henry's through ball
found Josey Portillo inside the area, but Campbell keeper Ethan
Hall left his feet to stop Portillo's point-blank chance.
FGCU nearly got on the board in the 14th minute on Ryan Price's
diving header from Portillo's cross, but Price's effort rolled just
wide of the far post.
Campbell's Justin Franz gathered a loose ball outside the box in
the 18th minute, but his 25-yard low shot went wide of the left
post.
In the 32nd minute, Portillo's flick came to a wide open Price in
the box, but Hall dove to save his right-footed shot.
Hall finished with eight saves in the first career start for the
freshman keeper out of Raleigh Athens Drive High School. Glick
made three stops in the FGCU nets.
The Eagles finished with a 16-12 edge in shots, 9-3 in shots on
goal.
Campbell dropped to 4-9 against nationally-ranked teams since the
start of the 2005 campaign and lost only for the seventh time
(34-7-5) in A-Sun regular season play during the same span.
Thursday night's result was just Campbell's third loss during
October (22-3-3) in its last 28 games during the month.
Campbell continues its home stand Saturday against defending A-Sun
tournament champion Stetson, which dropped a 1-0 decision Thursday
at Mercer.