TAMPA, Fla. – The 2015 season continues for the FGCU women's soccer team this weekend as the Eagles travel to Tampa for the USF Tournament, hosted by the Bulls at Corbett Soccer Stadium. The Green and Blue will face Mississippi State Friday, Aug. 28 with a 2:30 p.m. kickoff and will take on LIU Brooklyn in a 1 p.m. start on Sunday, Aug. 30.
The Eagles remain undefeated after a strong season-opening weekend that included a scoreless tie against the SEC's Ole Miss on Friday and a 2-0 win over Atlantic 10 favorite Dayton on Sunday. Sunday's win saw goals from reigning Atlantic Sun Player of the Year and College Soccer News Second Team All American
Tabby Tindell (Ocala, Fla./Trinity Catholic High School) and junior
Paulina Speckmaier (Miami, Fla./Gulliver Prep), while Tindell, senior
Ally Kasun (Lancaster, Pa./Hempfield High School) and freshmen
Darien Davis (New Port Richey, Fla./River Ridge High School) and
Camille Knudstrup (Lakeland, Fla./George Jenkins High School) added assists for the Green and Blue.
Senior
Brittany Brown (Rochester, N.Y./Greece-Athena High School) recorded eight saves on the weekend and held opponents scoreless for 200 minutes for two shutouts. Brown was named a Week 1 Primetime Performer by CollegeSoccer360.com for her efforts.
HOW TO FOLLOWLive stats will be available via GoUSFBulls.com and can be viewed by clicking
here prior to the game. Fans can also follow @FGCU_WSoccer on Twitter for updates as they become available.
MISSISSIPPI STATEMississippi State stands at 0-2 on the year after falling to South Alabama and Murray State to start the year in Starkville. The Bulldogs outshot Murray State 8-5 with five shots on goal but gave up a goal on a penalty kick in the 62nd minute to fall behind 2-1.
MSU was outscored 42-13 and went 3-15 during the 2014 season with a 0-11 SEC mark. The team was selected 14th in this season's SEC Preseason Coaches' Poll.
Third-year head coach Aaron Gordon's team returns just three players who found the back of the net in 2014, with sophomore Mallory Eubanks highlighting the returners. Eubanks produced one goal and four assists as a rookie and earned All-Freshman Team honors. The Bulldogs also return goal keeper Tanya de Souza, who played eight games in goal last season and allowed 14 goals as a freshman.
FGCU and MSU have met twice before with tilts in 2009 and 2013. The Eagles fell 1-0 in a neutral contest in Jacksonville in 2009 and defeated the Bulldogs 2-1 in Fort Myers in 2013 with goals from Speckmaier and now senior
Kaitlin Parker (Palm Harbor, Fla./Clearwater Central Catholic High School).
LIU BROOKLYNThe Blackbirds of LIU Brooklyn opened the season with a 2-0 road win over Iona last Friday and travel to the Sunshine State for the second and third of eight away games in the nonconference schedule. LIU's Tori Shinkowitz's header put the Blackbirds up 1-0 in the ninth minute before a 78th-minute strike from Allegra Ondrejka sealed the victory. Veteran keeper Jessica Montrose made five saves in the win for LIU to begin her senior season.
A year ago, LIU went 4-14-1 with a 2-5-1 mark in Northeast Conference play. The team was outscored 39-18 and produced 84 shots on goal. With 11 newcomers, second-year head coach Jim Robbins' squad was selected to finish sixth in the NEC.
Robbins returns players who scored eight of the team's 18 goals last year with top returner Madison Gomez back as a junior. As a sophomore, the forward produced seven goals and one assist, while Lucy Gunton-Jones added a single goal and eight assists to earn First-Team All NEC honors. Montrose played all 19 games in goal last season and made 101 saves for the Blackbirds.
Sunday will mark the first-ever meeting between LIU and FGCU as well as the first matchup between FGCU and a NEC team.
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 (36), game-winning goals (16) and shots on goal (87) and set the new program record in career points with a goal and an assist on Sunday. Tindell passed previous leader
Shannen Wacker's 83 points and currently stands at 85 points in just 43 games.
Brown nears the top of the record books in several categories, including career saves (225, 2nd), games played (64, 2nd), and shutouts (29, 2nd). With just two more clean sheets, Brown will tie
Stephanie Powers' record of 31 shutouts.
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. 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.
Entering 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 101-36-17 through eight seasons with a 53-9-11 A-Sun mark. FGCU's only women's soccer coach in program history owns a career record of 341-107-28.
UP NEXTFollowing the Sunshine State matches, the Eagles will travel to the West Coast for a pair of games in California for the first time in program history. FGCU will face Cal State Fullerton on Friday, Sept. 4 with an 8 p.m. EST kickoff and will take on San Diego State at 10 p.m. EST on Sunday, Sept. 6.
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 102-36-18 overall record over the first eight seasons of the program's existence, including a 54-9-9 mark in the A-Sun. Blankenship's impressive career record of 342-107-29 over 24 seasons has come while leading FGCU, 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. TICKETSSingle-game tickets for FGCU Women's Soccer are available at a cost of $7 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. #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.
