FGCU’s Martinez nets pair of penalty kicks in draw with Stetson
Aron Martinez scored his eighth and ninth goals of 2026 on penalty kicks to push Florida Gulf Coast men’s soccer to a 2-2 tie with Stetson in the regular season home finale on Saturday night.
“We showed a lot of character, we showed a lot of heart,” head coach Oliver Twelvetrees said. “We kept going and I’m proud of the boys’ effort and commitment to each other.”
Martinez’s goals moved him into a tie for third on the Eagles’ single-season goals leaderboard with O’Vonte Mullings, who found the back of the net nine times in 2019.
The first penalty for Martinez came after he drew a foul in the box in the 39th minute with FGCU trailing 1-0. He buried it past the outstretched arms of Mello Murillo in the bottom left corner to level the match at 1-1.
Stetson retook the lead in the 56th minute, but Martinez wasn’t done. The Dodge City, Kan., native drew another yellow card in the box after beating Murillo to a through ball. The Stetson keeper partially deflected the second penalty, in nearly the same spot of the net, but he was unable to keep it from crossing the line, giving Martinez his first career brace at the Division I level.
The Eagles played to a draw despite outshooting the Hatters 23-8, and putting 11 shots on goal to Stetson’s three. Three of FGCU’s shots on goal came in the final two minutes, but the Hatters came up with pivotal saves to ward off the chances.
The physical conference tilt saw eight cards handed out, including six to Stetson, and 25 combined fouls.
FGCU continues to lead the all-time series with the Hatters, 11-8-4, and the Eagles are 7-3-2 in Fort Myers. Saturday’s draw was the first in the series since a 2-2 tie on March 19, 2021, in DeLand.
Next, the Eagles travel to Jacksonville for the regular season finale with a spot in the ASUN Tournament on the line at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 31.
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