FORT MYERS, Fla. – Following a dramatic 2-1 victory over Arizona to start the 2014 season, the FGCU women's soccer team (1-0) will visit Miami (Fla.) (0-2) and USF (0-2) this weekend to continue its trip through a challenging schedule. Miami and USF are two of the seven teams that finished with an RPI in the top 83 that FGCU are scheduled to square off with early this season.

The Eagles and Hurricanes kick off on Friday night at 7 p.m. and on Sunday FGCU and USF are scheduled for a 6 p.m. start.

LAST TIME OUT
The Eagles were fresh after lightning delayed the start of their season last Friday night when the Green and Blue were set to take on nationally ranked UCF. Sophomore Tabby Tindell picked up right where she left off at the end of the 2013 season, scoring the first goal of 2014 and 16th of her young career in the 19th in minute. Arizona would tie the score early in the second half but it was Tindell who took a brilliant service from Shannen Wacker in the 72nd minute, drove down the middle of the field, made a quick move in the box and beat the keeper for the eventual game-winning goal.

TABBY TINDELL
In recognition of her efforts in the season opener, Tindell was named the Atlantic Sun Player of the Week for the fourth time in her career as well as being chosen as an honorable mention to the TopDrawerSoccer.com National Team of the Week which recognizes the top performances of players nationwide.

Individuals from national powers, Ohio State, Stanford, South Carolina, Florida State, UCLA, Notre Dame, Penn State, California, Arkansas, Arizona State, DePaul, Virginia Tech, Texas A&M, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan State are all represented on the list alongside Tindell. Check out the full Team of the Week here.

The 17 goals she has scored in her career already rank fourth all-time in the FGCU record book and are just seven shy of the program career record of 24 goals set by 2009 graduate Amber McCall. Tindell's 38 points (17 goals, 4 assists) rank sixth all-time.
 
Tindell put together one of, if not the greatest individual seasons in program history in just her first year suiting up for the Green and Blue. The Ocala, Fla. native established single-season program records in points (34), goals (15), goals per game (0.75), shots (71), shots per game (3.55), shots on goal (44) and shots on goal per game (2.20).

MIAMI and USF
Miami closed last season with a 9-8-1 record and did not qualify for the ACC Tournament. These two programs have met three times; most recently in 2011 and FGCU has yet to claim a result. Miami lost last Sunday to No. 23 UCF by a score of 2-1 and are now 0-2 in 2014 following a loss to Florida last Friday.

From Miami the Eagles will travel to Tampa, Fla. to square off with USF for the first time in the regular season on Sunday. These two programs have met several times in exhibition fashion but never in the regular season. The Bulls closed out 2013 with a 10-4-7 record and a double-overtime, penalty kick loss to UCF in the semifinals of the American Conference Tournament. USF is 0-2 through the opening weekend as well with a 1-0 loss to FAU and a 2-0 loss to Florida.

NSCAA
The Eagles have achieved the No. 9 ranking in the NSCAA Southeast region for the week of Aug. 26. They fall in behind Florida State (2-0), Virginia (2-0), Virginia Tech (2-0), North Carolina (1-1), Notre Dame (2-0), Clemson (2-0), Wake Forest (1-0), Boston College (1-1) and rank ahead of Duke (0-2).

TOPDRAWER A-SUN RANKINGS
Earlier this week, TopDrawerSoccer.com released it rankings of the top 20 players in each conference. Led by Tindell who was ranked as the A-Sun's best player, (3) Emma Blackwell, (4) Ally Kasun, (6) Brittany Brown, (8) Paulina Speckmaier, (11) Wacker, (14) Melissa Arnold and (20) Shea Rhoney were recognized as well, giving FGCU, by far, the most names represented on the list.

TOUGH SCHEDULE
The Eagles finished 2013 with the No. 67 RPI in the nation and the 2014 schedule will feature seven teams that finished ranked inside the top 83, three of which were ranked 15th or better. Those seven team include Arizona (83), Miami (73), La Salle (63), USF (53), Texas A&M (15), South Carolina (14) and UCF (13). Texas A&M and South Carolina began the season ranked No. 4 and No. 14 respectively in the preseason poll. 

PRESEASON EXPECTATIONS
FGCU has been selected by the coaches of the Atlantic Sun to earn a fifth-consecutive regular season championship when the Preseason All-Conference awards were announced by the league office. The coaches also went on to choose Tindell as the Co-Preseason Player of the Year while Blackwell earned Preseason Defensive Player of the Year honors and Brown was picked to repeat as Goalkeeper of the Year.

In addition to their individual awards Tindell, Blackwell and Brown were all named to the Preseason All-Conference Team alongside teammates Kasun, Speckmaier and Wacker giving the Eagles six of the 12 players named to the All-Conference Team.

The Eagles received 59 points and four first place votes to lead the preseason poll, just two points shy of 2013 A-Sun Tournament Champion Jacksonville (57) who picked up two first place votes. Kennesaw State with 48 points and one first place vote checked in at third followed by Stetson (40) and Lipscomb (33) who received the final first place vote. North Florida (24), Northern Kentucky (18) and USC Upstate (9) round out the rest of the rankings.

WACKER CLOSING IN
Wacker closed her junior campaign just three goals shy of the program record of 24. She is well ahead of the pace to break that record as she has averaged seven goals per season over the course of her career.

BLANKENSHIP AMONG THE BEST
Last month, AllWhiteKit.com, a blog that recognizes and promotes women's soccer around the world, released its NCAA – CoachRank Adjusted Rankings and listed FGCU head coach Jim Blankenship as the No. 10 coach in the nation. He is the highest ranked of any his peers in the Atlantic Sun and one of three coaches from the state of Florida to appear in the top 10 (2 - Florida State, 9 - Florida).

Only coaches that have been at their current institution three seasons or longer qualify for the list. CoachRank is a data-driven, objective system of measuring coach performance over a long-term period of the time. Blankenship's sustained success at FGCU played a major role in the ranking he received. For full AllWhiteKit.com rankings click here.

Blankenship has guided FGCU to an 84-32-17 overall record over the first seven seasons of the program's existence, including a 47-9-9 mark in the A-Sun. Since joining the A-Sun in 2007, the Eagles lead the league in conference wins (47) and fewest conference losses (9). In their last four seasons in the A-Sun, FGCU sports a 29-2-6 record. FGCU's 8-0-2 A-Sun record in 2010 and 7-0-2 record in 2013 were the 11th and 12th unblemished seasons in conference history and two of seven since the league left divisional play in 1999.

WHAT'S NEXT?
The Green and Blue will conclude its three-game road swing with a visit to Florida International on Wednesday (Sept. 3) for a 7:30 p.m. tilt. The Eagles hold a 4-2-1 advantage in the all-time series including a 1-0 victory at the FGCU Soccer Complex last season - giving FGCU a three-game win streak in the series. FIU finished 2013 with a 7-12 record and a 5-5 mark in Conference USA. They are off to a 1-1 start this season with a 0-2 loss to Arizona and a 3-0 defeat of North Florida. The Panthers will travel to the west coast to play Santa Clara and Pacific before meeting the Eagles.

Murray State visits the FGCU Soccer Complex on Sunday (Sept. 7) to split five road games for FGCU. These two programs have met once before in 2007 and the Racers came away with a 3-2 victory. Murray State closed 2013 with a 6-10-1 mark and a 3-7 record in the Ohio Valley Conference. The Racers are 0-1 so far this season with a 2-3 loss to Arkansas State will square off with Georgia State, Dayton and FIU before heading to southwest Florida.

FOLLOW ALONG
For constant, news, photos, videos and updates you can follow the women's soccer team on Twitter @FGCU_WSoccer, on Instagram @FGCU_WSoc or on Facebook: Facebook.com/FGCUWSoccer. You can also find FGCU athletics on YouTube by visiting YouTube.com/FGCUEagles.

TICKETS
Single-game tickets for FGCU Women's Soccer are available at a cost of $6 for adults and $3 for groups of ten (10) or more. Season tickets are also available. For more ticket information and additional deals, visit FGCUathletics.com/tickets, call or visit the ticket office at 239-590-7145.