DeLAND, Fla.  – With a 6-1 victory at Stetson, the FGCU women's soccer team claimed its sixth-straight Atlantic Sun Conference Regular Season Championship Saturday night at the Athletic Training Complex. The Eagles finish the regular season with a record of 11-5-2 including an undefeated 6-0-1 mark in league action and will hold the No. 1 seed in the 2015 A-Sun Tournament with a bye in the first round.
 
The Eagles used a hat trick from Tabby Tindell (Ocala, Fla./Trinity Catholic High School) as well as goals from Shea Rhoney (Lithia, Fla./Newsome High School), Nikki Hudson (Baltimore, Md./Roland Park County School/Rutgers) and Darien Davis (New Port Richey, Fla./River Ridge High School) to produce their second-straight six-goal outing and defeat the Hatters 6-1. The Green and Blue held a 4-0 lead at halftime before Tindell and Davis pushed the score to 6-0 in the final minutes. Stetson avoided the shutout with an 88th minute goal but was unable to challenge the Green and Blue.
 
FGCU held a 24-10 shot advantage through the 90-minute affair with 17 shots on goal compared to Stetson's seven shots on target. Senior Brittany Brown (Rochester, N.Y./Greece Athena High School) made five saves in 84 minutes before classmate Emily Dolan (Wilmington, Del./Charter School of Wilmington) entered the game. Dolan made one save and allowed the Hatter goal.
 
"We knew what was necessary today and I'm proud of the way the team responded to that," said head coach Jim Blankenship. "I'm proud of the success the team has had so far but the next few weeks are critical now. We're extremely happy to earn the No. 1 seed and the ability to play at home in front of our fans during the conference tournament."
 
The Eagles took control of the game with an 11th minute goal from Rhoney. The senior set up a free kick just a yard outside the penalty box and found the upper-90 on the direct kick. The strike gave FGCU a 1-0 lead but the score held for just 56 seconds.
 
Under a minute later, Emma Blackwell (Jenks, Okla./Jenks High School) fed a long pass through the midfield and found Tindell in the box. Tindell beat the Stetson keeper and pushed the score to 2-0 in the 12th minute.
 
After trading possessions in the midfield over a 15-minute span, Hudson gained control of the ball at the midfield. Hudson took two touches before firing a long-range shot from well beyond the penalty box. Hudson's blast fell over the head of the Stetson keeper and into the back of the net, giving FGCU a 3-0 lead in the 29th minute.
 
Once again, Tindell wasted no time before increasing the Eagles' goal total. Just 94 seconds after Hudson's goal, Ally Kasun (Lancaster, Pa./Hempfield High School) hit the crossbar with a shot attempt and Tindell found the rebound. Tindell one-timed the shot to find the back of the net and increase the FGCU advantage to four goals.
 
The Eagles maintained the 4-0 lead through half time before Tindell completed the hat trick in the 54th minute. Kaitlin Parker (Palm Harbor, Fla./Clearwater Central Catholic High School) fired a shot that was tipped over the net, setting up a corner kick for the Eagles. Kasun placed the kick in front of the net where Tindell's header found the goal for her third of the game and 15th of the season, giving FGCU a 5-0 lead. Tindell's third strike of the night pushed her career total to 50 goals and 120 points, both of which lead the FGCU record books.
 
The Hatters contained the Eagle offense for the next 20 minutes but a wave of substitutions gave the Eagles a fresh energy in the 75th minute. Davis entered the game in the 79th minute and produced an offensive attack for the Green and Blue right away. Paulina Speckmaier (Miami, Fla./Gulliver Prep) dished the ball through the defense to Davis who dribbled past the keeper and shot at an empty net in the 84th minute to bring the score to 6-0.
 
The Eagles maintained control of the game but allowed a single Hatter strike in the 88th minute to push the score to the final mark of 6-1 in favor of the visiting team.
 
With the A-Sun victory, the Eagles are now unbeaten in 27-straight Atlantic Sun Conference regular season games and produced their their third-straight unblemished conference season. With the 11th win of the season, 2015 now marks the Eagles' ninth-straight season in nine years as a program with double-figure victories.
 
With an unprecedented six-straight regular season titles, the Eagles join the ranks of only Boston University (2007-12) and Florida (96-01) as the only teams to ever win six straight. Only two programs boast more than six in a row with North Carolina (01-08) earning eight straight and Brown (82-90) holding the record at nine-consecutive titles.
 
As the A-Sun Champions, the Eagles will hold the No. 1 position in the 2015 A-Sun Tournament and earn a bye in next weekend's first round. The team will begin competition in the A-Sun Semifinals on Friday, Nov. 6 against the winner of the No. 4/5 game and would play in the Championship Sunday, Nov. 8 with a semifinal win. Lipscomb earns the No. 2 seed, with Jacksonville taking No. 3 but the remaining three positions will be determined by the result of Sunday's contest between USC Upstate and Kennesaw State. Currently, Stetson holds fourth-place in the league with 10 points, with Kennesaw State and UNF behind tied with seven points.
 
Complete information on the Atlantic Sun Conference Championship can be found at AtlanticSun.org and will be available at FGCUAthletics.com as information is released.
 
THE ATLANTIC SUN PICTURE

Team	Points	A-Sun Record	Overall Record	Next Match
FGCU*^	19	6-0-1	11-5-2	A-Sun Semifinals; 11/6
Lipscomb*^	18	6-1	11-3-4	A-Sun Semifinals; 11/6
Jacksonville*	13	4-2-1	6-7-2	A-Sun First Round; 10/30
Stetson*	10	3-3-1	9-7-1	A-Sun First Round; 10/30
Kennesaw State*	7	2-3-1	5-9-2	at USC Upstate; 10/25
North Florida	7	2-4-1	4-11-1	TBD
USC Upstate	4	1-4-1	2-12-2	Kennesaw State; 10/25
NJIT	0	0-7	2-14	End of Season

* - clinched a spot in the A-Sun Women's Soccer Championship
^ - clinched a first-round bye in the A-Sun Women's Soccer Championship
 
TABBY
With another three goals Saturday evening, Tindell now tops the FGCU record book by nearly 40 points. The junior has scored 50 goals in her career with 120 points in 57 total games. Tindell now ranks sixth all-time among the Atlantic Sun record books with the goal total and breaks into the A-Sun top-10 at 120 points.
 
COACH JIM BLANKENSHIP
A 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 nine double-digit win seasons, culminating with Atlantic Sun Regular Season Championships in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and now 2015. 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 112-41-19 (64.2 W%) overall record through the first nine seasons of the program's existence, including a 60-9-10 (74.6 W%) mark in the A-Sun. Blankenship's impressive career record of 352-112-30 (71.0 W%) over 25 seasons has come while leading FGCU, the University of Miami, Lynn University and St. Thomas University.
 
FOLLOW ALONG
For 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.
 
#FEEDFGCU
FGCU 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.