FORT MYERS, Fla. – After four-straight games on the road, the FGCU women's soccer team returns to the FGCU Soccer Complex for a pair of matches against in-state opponents this weekend. The Eagles will host the University of Miami Friday, Sept. 11 in a 7 p.m. kickoff and will welcome FIU for a 1 p.m. game Sunday, Sept. 13.
The Eagles moved to 3-2-1 on the year with tough losses at Cal State Fullerton and San Diego State last weekend and will look to bounce back this weekend. Despite trailing 3-0 at halftime, the Green and Blue produced a three-goal comeback against the Titans to send the match to overtime where the squad fell 4-3 on a late penalty kick in favor of CSUF. The team battled SDSU last Sunday evening but fell 1-0 for its second loss of the season.
Tabby Tindell (Ocala, Fla./Trinity Catholic High School) currently leads the team at 13 points on the season with four goals and five assists through five games, while
Paulina Speckmaier (Miami, Fla./Gulliver Prep) has added three goals and a single assist for seven points. Overall, eight different players have found the back of the net for FGCU, with nine having produced assists.
The FGCU backline has stopped 49 shot attempts this season, with senior
Brittany Brown (Rochester, N.Y./Greece-Athena High School) leading the way. Brown has stifled 17 shots on goal so far this season and has held opponents to 0.78 goals per game in six games.
WHAT TO KNOWFriday's game will serve as Military and First Responders Appreciation Night, with all current and former military members and first responders receiving free admission with a valid ID. Fans are encouraged to wear red, white or blue as FGCU recognizes these groups.
Live stats for both games will be available through
FGCULiveStats.com with a free video stream available at FGCUAthletics.com or by clicking
here. Fans can also follow @FGCU_WSoccer on Twitter for updates as they become available.
WEEKLY AWARDSAfter leading the backline last weekend, FGCU senior centerback
Emma Blackwell (Jenks, Okla./Jenks High School) earned her first career Atlantic Sun Defensive Player of the Week award Tuesday afternoon.
As the 2014 A-Sun Defensive Player of the Year, Blackwell has led the FGCU backline during the 2015 season. With her leadership, FGCU limited the threats of Cal State Fullerton and San Diego State this weekend and held opponents to just two goals in its last 155 minutes of action.
After falling behind 3-0 in the first half at Cal State Fullerton, the FGCU defense held CSUF to just one shot in the second half, while mounting a three-goal comeback. While stifling the home team's advances, the Eagles scored in the 57th and 59th minutes against the Titans and tied the game in the 88th minute with a Blackwell assist to send the contest to overtime. The team ultimately fell behind on a 108th minute penalty kick but outshot the home team 18-14 overall. In addition to the strong defensive play, Blackwell fired four shots with one shot on goal against the Titans. Blackwell's defensive edge again aided the Eagles' efforts in Sunday's contest at San Diego State as Brown was forced to make just one save in 90 minutes of play.
MIAMIMiami travels west for its third-consecutive road contest and its fifth-straight game against an instate opponent. The Hurricanes are 1-4 on the year with a recent 2-0 win over Jacksonville University and losses to Texas, Florida, UCF and FAU this year.
Third-year head coach Mary-Frances Monroe's team finished 2014 with a record of 4-13-1 with a 2-7-1 mark in ACC play and returns eight starters for the 2015 season. Top returner Amy Schmidt leads the team with three goals on the year and scored both of the team's tallies in Sunday's win over the Dolphins. As a unit, the Hurricanes have been outshot by opponents 66-60 through five games and have been outscored 12-8.
In four previous meetings, the Hurricanes hold a 3-1 advantage but the Green and Blue earned a win in the last meeting. Speckmaier and Tindell scored in the September 2014 contest in Coral Gables to lift the Eagles to a 2-1 win.
FIUThe Panthers of FIU enter the weekend with a 2-3 record after an overtime win over Dayton in the season opener and a 1-0 victory over Miami (Ohio) in Oxford, Ohio last weekend. The team fell to Stetson, UCF and Ohio State earlier in the season and will face UNF Friday evening in Miami.
Madlen Weinhardt paces the team with two goals and one assist, while two others have produced one goal each. The Panthers have been outscored 7-4 in five games this season and have produced 53 shots.
Head coach Thomas Chestnutt is in his ninth season and returns five starters from last year's squad that went 8-8-2 last year with a 3-4-2 Conference USA record.
The Eagles hold a 6-1-1 record all-time against the Panthers including a 2-0 win in Miami last year. Tindell scored in the seventh minute in last season's contest, with Speckmaier adding to the goal total in the 58th minute to lead the team to victory.
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 (39), game-winning goals (17) and shots on goal (95) 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
Shannen Wacker's 83 points and currently stands at 95 points in just 46 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 several categories, including career saves (234, 2nd) and games played (68, 2nd) and matched
Stephanie Powers' record of 31 shutouts two weeks ago. Brown will take sole possession of the all-time leader position for both FGCU and the Atlantic Sun with one more shutout. The veteran keeper also leads the program's goals against average at 0.70.
FGCU PROGRAM RECORDS | SHUTOUTS | | | | GOALS AGAINST AVERAGE | |
| 1 | Brittany Brown (12-15) | 31 | | 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 | 31 |
| 2 | Mirela Ninic | Mercer 96-99 | 60 | | | 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 | Marit Foss | JU 97-00 | 39 | | 9 | Adriana Finelli | JSU 98-00 | 20 |
| Tabby Tindell | FGCU 13-15 | 39 | | 10 | Alexa Rooney | JU 08-10 | 20 |
| | | | | | Julie Snaman | UCF 03-04 | 20 |
NATIONAL STANDINGSBrown and Tindell's record-book status transcends to the national leaderboards as both rank among the nation's best current players. Tindell holds the top spot in career points per game among active players with 2.07 points per game through her career and ranks second in goals per game, while Brown stands at second in shutouts with 31 through four seasons and third in minutes played.
NCAA ACTIVE CAREER LEADERS | POINTS PER GAME | | | | | GOALS PER GAME | | |
| 1 | Tabby Tindell | FGCU | 2.07 | | 1 | Savannah Jordan | Florida | 0.88 |
| 2 | Savannah Jordan | Florida | 2.00 | | 2 | Tabby Tindell | FGCU | 0.85 |
| 3 | Aaliyah Lewis | Alabama St. | 1.94 | | 3 | Tyler Lussi | Princeton | 0.81 |
| | | | | | | | |
| SHUTOUTS | | | | | MINUTES PLAYED | | |
| 1 | Jackie Kerestine | North Texas | 34 | | 1 | Jackie Kerestine | North Texas | 6,547.65 |
| 2 | Brittany Brown | FGCU | 31 | | 2 | Jennifer Pelley | SIUE | 6,170.63 |
| 3 | Abby Smith | Texas | 26 | | 3 | Brittany Brown | FGCU | 6,095.18 |
Tindell also ranks among the top-10 in several categories this season with a strong offensive showing thus far.
| CATEGORY | RANK | VALUE |
| Points per game | 7 | 2.60 |
| Assists per game | 3 | 1.0 |
| Total points | 12 | 13 |
| Total assists | 4 | 5 |
| Game-winning goals | 14 | 2 |
NSCAA RANKINGSThe Eagles currently rank 10th in the NSCAA's Southeast Region Poll. The team began the season at the 10th position and has since held strong behind Samford, Boston College and Duke. Virginia, Florida State and North Carolina top the Southeast Region poll.
INJURY REPORTAfter suffering knee injuries in collisions against Cal State Fullerton, Tindell and junior defender
Ashley Parks (Wildwood, Mo./Lafayette High School) met with doctors this week. Tindell is listed as day-to-day with a deep knee contusion, while Parks will need to be evaluated again next week once swelling subsides.
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.
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 104-38-18 through nine seasons with a 53-9-11 A-Sun mark. FGCU's only women's soccer coach in program history owns a career record of 344-109-29.
UP NEXTFollowing the weekend matches, the Green and Blue will leave Southwest Florida for a pair of road contests next weekend. The Eagles will face the Miami Redhawks Friday, Sept. 18 in Oxford, Ohio and will venture to Morgantown, W.V. for a 1 p.m. game against no. 8 West Virginia on Sunday, Sept. 20 before Atlantic Sun competition begins.
The Eagles will host North Florida in the A-Sun opener on Saturday, Sept. 26 with a 7 p.m. kickoff.
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 104-38-18 overall record through the first eight-plus seasons of the program's existence, including a 54-9-9 mark in the A-Sun. Blankenship's impressive career record of 344-109-29 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. TICKETSSingle-game tickets for FGCU Women's Soccer are available at a cost of $7 for adults and $5 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.
