NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The FGCU women's soccer team embarks on a road trip for the final two-game swing of the season. The Green and Blue will first head to Nashville to take on current Atlantic Sun leader Lipscomb Friday, Oct. 16 at 8 p.m. before traveling to Newark for the first-ever meeting with A-Sun newcomer NJIT Sunday, Oct 18.
Friday's contest will be the largest test in A-Sun play as FGCU and Lipscomb stand as the league's last remaining unbeaten teams, with postseason home-field advantage on the line. The Eagles are unbeaten in their last 24 A-Sun regular season matches and will look to extend the streak in the Friday-night tilt.
The Green and Blue enter the weekend with a record of 8-5-2 after earning wins over USC Upstate and Kennesaw State last weekend. The team now holds an Atlantic Sun Conference mark of 3-0-1 and is riding a three-game win streak. The Eagles have outscored opponents 27-10 through 15 games this season with 254 total shots and 114 shots on goal. The FGCU backline has stopped 92 shot attempts this season, with Brown leading the way. Brown has stifled 39 shots on goal so far this season and has held opponents to 0.64 goals per game with a save percentage of .796.
Tabby Tindell (Ocala, Fla./Trinity Catholic High School) leads the team at 29 points on the season with 11 goals and seven assists through 13 games, while
Paulina Speckmaier (Miami, Fla./Gulliver Prep) and
Ally Kasun (Lancaster, Pa./Hempfield High School) have each added three goas. Overall, 13 different players have found the back of the net for FGCU, including
Ali Rogers (Naples, Fla./Gulf Coast High School) who has added two goals and one assist this season.
WHAT TO KNOWFriday night's matchup will serve as a battle of the two unbeaten teams in the league as Lipscomb holds the first-place standing and FGCU is just behind. Both teams would clinch a position in the A-Sun Championship Tournament with a win. Friday's contest can be viewed live on ASun.TV and can be found by clicking
here, while live stats are available via LipscombSports.com or by clicking
here.
Sunday's 1 p.m. contest can also be viewed online by clicking
here with live stats available through NJIT's website
here.
Fans can also follow @FGCU_WSoccer on Twitter for updates as they become available during the game and can find the team on Facebook and Instagram for further information.
LIPSCOMBThe Bisons enter the pivotal match with the Eagles with a 9-2-4 record. The squad kicked off their season by reeling off six-consecutive shutouts and has allowed the fewest goals against in the conference at eight. Lipscomb currently sits in first place in the Atlantic Sun after dispatching every conference opponent to this point including victories over UNF, Jacksonville, Kennesaw State and the most recent 2-1 triumph over USC Upstate. LU's RPI of 96 currently ranks best in the A-Sun.
Fourth-year head coach Kevin O'Brien is looking to lead his team to their first conference championship during his tenure. Last season's Lipscomb squad entered the conference tournament as the no. 2 seed with a 4-2-1 conference record before being upset in the semifinals by the no. 6 seeded Kennesaw State Owls.
The Bisons' 28 goals are tied for second in the conference and one more than the Eagles, despite having taken only 204 shots to FGCU's conference leading 254. The dynamic offense is powered by freshman Maycie McKay. The Brentwood, Tennessee native has seven goals and 16 points on the season, while no one else on the team has produced more than three goals. The Bisons also boast the reigning Goalkeeper of the Year and the most recent A-Sun Defensive Player of the Week, Anna Buhigas. The junior leads the conference with a .909 save percentage and 10 shutouts. Her 80 saves also ranks second in the conference.
FGCU is 6-0-2 all-time against Lipscomb since their first meeting in 2007. When the Eagles and Bisons faced off last season, Tindell scored within eight seconds to net the third-quickest goal to start a game in NCAA history. The Green and Blue eventually won that match 2-1 to clinch the top seed in the A-Sun tournament. The last time the Eagles traveled to Nashville to take on the Bisons was in 2013 when the teams played to a 1-1 draw despite FGCU outshooting the home team 21-7. In that game, Tindell set up recent graduate
Julia Roddar with the team's lone goal in the first half.
NJITThe A-Sun's newest member will host the Eagles Sunday afternoon in Newark, N.J. The Highlanders hold a record of 2-11-0 on the year with a 0-4-0 record in league play. The team defeated Saint Peter's and Iona early in the year but has fallen in 10-straight games since. NJIT will take on Stetson before hosting FGCU.
Third-year head coach Mandi Risden's squad has been outscored 29-11 in 13 games this year and has been outshot 206-123 with 62 shots on goal. The team's 11 goals have all been scored by a freshman with Arianna Gerber and Neema Liverpool leading with three each. Senior Samantha Bersett has played 12 games in goal and holds a 2.36 goals against average with 56 saves.
Sunday stands as the Eagle's first-ever meeting with the Highlanders.
THE STREAK(S)The Eagles maintain a 24-game unbeaten streak in regular-season A-Sun games that spans three seasons. The team's last loss in conference play was Oct. 5, 2012 at North Florida, 1,105 days ago. The Green and Blue also maintain a 29-game unbeaten streak at the FGCU Soccer Complex in conference games. That streak ranks third in the nation, behind only Boston University's 32, North Texas' 31 and tied with powerhouse West Virginia.
REWRITING THE RECORD BOOKTindell is on the launching pad to become FGCU's most prolific women's soccer player of all time. The junior currently holds the all-time record in goals (46), game-winning goals (19) and shots on goal (110) and set the new program record in career points with a goal and an assist in the season's opening weekend. Tindell passed previous leader Wacker's 83 points and currently stands at 111 points in just 54 games. Tindell also entered the A-Sun Top-10 for career goals earlier this season and continues to climb the ranks.
Brown nears the top of the record books in career saves (256, 2nd) took over as the program's and A-Sun's all-time leader in shutouts earlier this season. The veteran keeper also leads the program's goals against average at 0.70 and games played at 75.
FGCU PROGRAM RECORDS | | SHUTOUTS | | | | GOALS AGAINST AVERAGE | |
| 1 | Brittany Brown (12-15) | 35 | | 1 | Brittany Brown (12-15) | 0.70 |
| 2 | Stephanie Powers (08-11) | 31 | | 2 | Stephanie Powers (08-11) | 0.73 |
| 3 | Kirsi Keenan (07-08) | 8 | | 3 | Emily Barrett (07-09) | 0.84 |
| 4 | Emily Barrett (07-09) | 3 | | 4 | Kirsi Keenan (07-08) | 0.90 |
ATLANTIC SUN RECORDS| | GOALS | | | | | SHUTOUTS | | |
| 1 | Shelley Marusak | Cent 93-95 | 61 | | 1 | Brittany Brown | FGCU 12-15 | 35 |
| 2 | Mirela Ninic | Mercer 96-99 | 60 | | 2 | Stephanie Powers | FGCU 08-11 | 31 |
| 3 | Jenn Stephenson | Campbell 94-97 | 60 | | 3 | April Eilering | Stetson 03-06 | 25 |
| 4 | Kara Fitzgerald | GSU 94-97 | 57 | | 4 | Staci Pugh | KSU 06-10 | 25 |
| 5 | Stine Kloster | JU 97-00 | 53 | | | Erin Switalski | Campbell 01-04 | 25 |
| 6 | Keri Zwikker | JU 05-08 | 49 | | | Molly Keating | FAU 00-03 | 23 |
| 7 | Leeanna Woodworth | GWU 02-05 | 49 | | 7 | Martha Chaney | Cent 93-95 | 23 |
| 8 | Chandra Yorgason | GSU 97-00 | 47 | | | Alyssa Obrien | UCF 95-98 | 22 |
| 9 | Tabby Tindell | FGCU 13-15 | 46 | | 9 | Adriana Finelli | JSU 98-00 | 20 |
| 10 | Marit Foss | JU 97-00 | 39 | | 10 | Alexa Rooney | JU 08-10 | 20 |
| | | | | | | Julie Snaman | UCF 03-04 | 20 |
MORE ON TABBYWith a three-goal performance last weekend, Tindell moved ahead of Florida's Savannah Jordan among active Division I players in career points per game at 2.06 and now leads all active players. The junior trails Jordan in goals per game to rank second nationally at 0.85.
COACH BLANKENSHIPFor the second-straight year, FGCU women's soccer head coach
Jim Blankenship earned a position among the nation's top-10 collegiate coaches prior to the season's start. The three-time Atlantic Sun Coach of the Year holds the No. 6 position in the list compiled by AllWhiteKit.com for 2015. By creating sustained success at FGCU, Blankenship achieved a score of 69.61 in 2014 for a No. 10 ranking and improved to 74.05 this season to take the No. 6 spot. With the increase, Blankenship moved ahead of UNC's Anson Dorrance, Boston University's Nancy Feldman, Marquette's Markus Roeders, Penn State's Erica Walsh, Portland's Garrett Smith and Florida's Becky Burleigh.
In his ninth season with the Green and Blue, Blankenship has built FGCU into a yearly contender in the A-Sun and nationally. Blankenship-led squads have won each of the last five regular season championships and have captured the A-Sun Conference Championship in three of the last five seasons. With Blankenship at the helm, the Eagles have compiled a record of 109-41-19 through nine seasons with a 56-9-12 A-Sun mark. FGCU's only women's soccer coach in program history owns a career record of 349-112-30.
UP NEXTThe Eagles will conclude the Atlantic Sun slate next weekend with a Saturday road game at Stetson. The Oct. 24 tilt is scheduled for 7 p.m. The 2015 A-Sun Tournament will begin the following weekend at the campus site of the highest seeds. Complete tournament information will be available via FGCUAthletics.com as it becomes available.
COACH JIM BLANKENSHIPA veteran of over two decades in collegiate coaching, head coach Jim Blankenship, who was named the 2012 and 2013 A-Sun Coach of the Year as well, has built FGCU women's soccer into a yearly contender in the Atlantic Sun Conference and a rising program in the South Region in just eight seasons. Blankenship, who was recently ranked the no. 6 collegiate coach nationally by AllWhiteKit.com, started the program in 2007 and has since guided the Eagles to eight double-digit win seasons, culminating with Atlantic Sun Regular Season Championships in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014. In 2011 and 2012 he also led the Eagles to back-to-back A-Sun tournament championships and became the first team in the history of the university to make it to the NCAA Tournament. The Eagles then won the 2014 A-Sun tournament and hosted the first NCAA Championship event on campus when it welcomed Auburn in front of a record crowd. Blankenship has guided FGCU to a 109-41-19 (65.1 W%) overall record through the first eight-plus seasons of the program's existence, including a 56-9-10 (75.0 W%) mark in the A-Sun. Blankenship's impressive career record of 349-112-30 (771.1 W%) over 25 seasons has come while leading FGCU, the University of Miami, Lynn University and St. Thomas University. FOLLOW ALONGFor constant, news, photos, videos and updates you can follow the women's soccer team on Twitter @FGCU_WSoccer, on Instagram @FGCU_WSoccer or on Facebook: Facebook.com/FGCUWSoccer. You can also find FGCU athletics on YouTube by visiting YouTube.com/FGCUEagles. #FEEDFGCUFGCU Athletics sponsors events throughout the year to benefit the FGCU Campus Food Pantry (www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry) and the Harry Chapin Food Bank (www.harrychapinfoodbank.org), FGCU Athletics' charities of choice. For more information, including how to make a contribution, please visit www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.
