{"id":76726,"date":"2026-08-19T18:46:06","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T22:46:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/?p=76726"},"modified":"2026-08-19T18:46:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T22:46:12","slug":"florida-poly-mens-soccer-makes-history-with-4-0-victory-in-inaugural-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/2026\/08\/19\/florida-poly-mens-soccer-makes-history-with-4-0-victory-in-inaugural-game\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida Poly men\u2019s soccer makes history with 4-0 victory in inaugural game"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img data-dominant-color=\"322528\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #322528;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"624\" height=\"416\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 624px) 100vw, 624px\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/unnamed-8.webp?fit=624%2C416&amp;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-76727 not-transparent\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/unnamed-8.webp 624w, https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/unnamed-8-300x200.webp 300w\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u00a0Florida Polytechnic University celebrated its first foray into collegiate athletics Tuesday evening with an inaugural game tailgate, pregame remarks from Florida Poly leaders, and a 4-0 victory that never seemed in doubt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The men\u2019s soccer team took the field against Webber International at the Orlando Health Stadium inside the Lake Myrtle Sports Complex, cheered on by a large crowd of Florida Poly students, administrators and fans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis is a milestone moment for Florida Poly as we celebrate a new beginning for our University,\u201d said Dr. Devin Stephenson, president of Florida Poly, during the pregame ceremony. \u201cOur student-athletes are making history as the first generation of Phoenix athletes to take the field. We\u2019re creating new traditions for our University and the future of Florida Poly Athletics, with many more milestones to come.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Phoenix wasted little time making history on the field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Just five minutes into the game, Kaden Curtin scored the first official goal in Florida Poly Athletics history, volleying a header off an opposition player into the back of the net.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s the best feeling in the world,\u201d said Curtin, the Sophomore Industrial Engineering Major from Apple Valley, California, during a post-game interview. \u201cI love being here. This is the best school with the best team, best campus, and best field. Let\u2019s go Phoenixes!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The victory marked the first official win for Florida Poly Head Men\u2019s Soccer Coach Clay Roberts, whose team has looked dominant to start the year. Along with Curtin, players Adrian Arteaga, Ahmad Hijaz, and Peter Janzen also found the back of the net.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Roberts is one of seven coaches brought in by Florida Poly this year to lead the University into its inaugural season of intercollegiate athletics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhat a great night, it\u2019s a great feeling to see Florida Poly Athletics launch like this,\u201d said Roberts after the game. \u201cTo see the student body, the crowd, and the support, the players representing the way they did, you couldn\u2019t have drawn it up more perfectly. I\u2019m so proud of our team and I\u2019m honored to be part of this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The men\u2019s soccer team will be back in action on Wednesday, Aug. 26 against New College of Florida\u2019s Mighty Banyans.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u00a0Florida Polytechnic University celebrated its first foray into collegiate athletics Tuesday evening with an inaugural game tailgate, pregame remarks from Florida Poly leaders, and a 4-0 victory that never seemed&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":76727,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\n\n{excerpt}\n\n{url}","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","default_image_id":71799,"font":"","enabled":true,"token":"eyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvaTAud3AuY29tXC9sYWtlbGFuZGdhemV0dGUuaW5mb1wvbmV3c1wvd3AtY29udGVudFwvdXBsb2Fkc1wvMjAyNlwvMDhcL3VubmFtZWQtOC53ZWJwP2ZpdD02MjQlMkM0MTYmc3NsPTEiLCJ0eHQiOiJGbG9yaWRhIFBvbHkgbWVuXHUyMDE5cyBzb2NjZXIgbWFrZXMgaGlzdG9yeSB3aXRoIDQtMCB2aWN0b3J5IGluIGluYXVndXJhbCBnYW1lIiwidGVtcGxhdGUiOiJkb2lzIiwiZm9udCI6IiIsImJsb2dfaWQiOjE2MzA0MDY2MX0.QgQO5tOia7Rir_OqBL7D_M_8AZc7qAjrJAvduB0QhXsMQ"},"version":2,"media_source":"sig","attached_media":[{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/jetpack.com\/redirect\/?source=sigenerate&query=t%3DeyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvbGFrZWxhbmRnYXpldHRlLmluZm9cL25ld3NcL3dwLWNvbnRlbnRcL3VwbG9hZHNcLzIwMjZcLzA4XC91bm5hbWVkLTgud2VicCIsInR4dCI6IkZsb3JpZGEgUG9seSBtZW5cdTIwMTlzIHNvY2NlciBtYWtlcyBoaXN0b3J5IHdpdGggNC0wIHZpY3RvcnkgaW4gaW5hdWd1cmFsIGdhbWUiLCJ0ZW1wbGF0ZSI6ImRvaXMiLCJmb250IjoiIiwiYmxvZ19pZCI6MTYzMDQwNjYxfQ.5oxQszueHUFiLOcezHbhc3BjBMgs0ksqRIDjaYJP1koMQ","type":"image\/jpeg"}]},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[16275],"tags":[16280,16277,16276,15461,16281,16278,16279,16282],"class_list":["post-76726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-florida-poly-sports","tag-clay-roberts","tag-college-soccer","tag-florida-poly-athletics","tag-florida-polytechnic-university","tag-kaden-curtin","tag-mens-soccer","tag-phoenix-athletics","tag-webber-international"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76726","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76726"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76726\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":76728,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76726\/revisions\/76728"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76727"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}