NASHVILLE, TN- It will be a heavyweight battle Sunday afternoon in the Music City as the 2017 ASUN Champion FGCU Eagles take on take on the 2018 Champion Lipscomb Lady Bisons with a trip to the tournament championship game on the line. 
  LAST TIME OUT- The Eagles enter their semifinal matchup with the Lady Bisons off of an intense quarterfinal contest against Liberty full of twists and turns.
 
FGCU controlled the action for the first 80 minutes Friday night, getting a goal from Evdokia Popadinova (Hadzidimovo, Bulgaria/Nikola Vaptsarov/Northwestern Ohio) in the 28th minute, her ASUN leading 14th, followed by an early second half tally from Cassidy Morgan (Weston, FL/Cypress Bay HS) to take a 2-0 lead.  On the defensive end they held Liberty without a single shot for nearly 50 minutes through the middle of the game, suffocating the Lady Flames any time they attempted to move into the attacking third. 

Liberty finally got a shot off in the 73rd minute and it was easily their best chance to that point of the night, but the shot rang off the right post to keep the Eagles in front 2-0. With their season on the line, Liberty went into fight or flight mode, attacking the Eagles and finally breaking through with a goal in the 83rd minute to make it 2-1.  The Lady Flames continued to come at FGCU late, working the ball onto the doorstep of the Eagle net in the closing seconds, but the defense of the Green and Blue held strong, hanging on to the final horn to come away with the 2-1 win. 

FGCU AWARD WINNERS- FGCU came away with a number of awards at Thursday's ASUN virtual banquet, including a league high five All-Conference selections.
 
Holly Fritz- 1st Team All-ASUN, ASUN Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Lindsey Patton- 1st Team All-ASUN, ASUN All-Academic Team
Evdokia Popadinova- 1st Team All-ASUN
Marjorie Boilesen- 1st Team All-ASUN
Melissa Weck- 2nd Team All-ASUN
Alyssa Abbondandolo- ASUN All-Freshman Team
 
THE LIPSCOMB LADY BISONS- Lipscomb captured their first outright ASUN Conference Championship this season by going 7-1-0 in league action.  The Lady Bisons took it down to the wire, scoring an overtime goal in their season finale against Kennesaw to break a scoreless tie and take home the title to Nashville. 

The Lady Bisons feature a host of talent, including the top three superlative winners in the ASUN this season in Player of the Year Olivia Doak, Goalkeeper of the Year Kate Mason, and Defensive Player of the Year Logan McFadden. 

Statistically, Lipscomb finished right behind FGCU in nearly every major team category in the ASUN including goals (39), assists (33), and goals allowed (14) on the year. 

ASUN Semifinals- Sunday, October 28, 2018
#6 North Alabama @ #2 NJIT- 1 PM
#4 FGCU @ #1 Lipscomb- 2 PM

ASUN STATISTICAL LEADERS- The Eagles continued to add to their ASUN statistical leads in Friday's win.      

Goals
1. Evdokia Popadinova (FGCU)	14
2. Fiona Wright (NJIT)	11
3. Shelby Wall (North Alabama)	7
Riley Henry (Lipscomb)	7
Olivia Doak (Lipscomb)	7

 

Points
1. Evdokia Popadinova (FGCU)	35
2. Shelby Wall (North Alabama)	23
Olivia Doak (Lipscomb)	20
4. Fiona Wright (NJIT)	22
5. Maycie Mckay (Lipscomb)	19
Marjorie Boilesen (FGCU)	19

 

Assists
1. Shelby Wall (North Alabama)	9
Olivia Doak (Lipscomb)	9
Marjorie Boilesen (FGCU)	9
4. Maycie Mckay (Lipscomb)	7
Evdokia Popadinova (FGCU)	7

 

Game Winning Goals
1. Evdokia Popadinova (FGCU)	6
2. Jenna Vollrath (Kennesaw St.)	5
3. Thais Reiss (North Florida)	4
Maycie Mckay (Lipscomb)	4
5. Marjorie Boilesen (FGCU)	3
Two Others Tied At..	3

 

Goals Against Average
1. Melissa Weck (FGCU)	0.56
2. Kate Mason (Lipscomb)	0.74
3. Tiffany Sornpao (Kennesaw St.)	0.98
4. Amelia Sapirman (NJIT)	1.03
5. Shelby Thornton (North Alabama)	1.11

 

Save Percentage
1. Melissa Weck (FGCU)	.865
2. Kate Mason (Lipscomb)	.848
3. Tiffany Sornpao (Kennesaw St.)	.832
4. Amelia Sapirman (NJIT)	.824
5. Emily Plotz (Stetson)	.807

 

Shutouts
1.  Melissa Weck (FGCU)	10
2. Amelia Sapirman (NJIT)	9
Tiffany Sornpao (Kennesaw St.)	9
4. Kate Mason (Lipscomb)	7
5. Rhiannon Conelly (North Florida)	6
Shelby Thornton (North Alabama)	6

CHART CLIMBERS- A win Sunday would tie Melissa Weck with Stephanie Powers for second in program history with 42 career victories.      

POINTS PER GAME	ASSISTS PER GAME
1. Tabby Tindell- 2.03 (13-16)	1. Marjorie Boilesen- 0.49 (17-18)
2. Evdokia Popadinova- 1.94 (18)	2. Holly Fritz- 0.41 (17-18)
3. Marjorie Boilesen- 1.35 (17-18)	3. Evdokia Popadinova- 0.40 (18)
4. Amber McCall- 1.06 (07-09)	4. Tabby Tindell- 0.38 (13-16)
5. Holly Fritz- 1.01 (17-18)	5. Ashley Ciesielczyk- 0.37 (08-12)
GOALS PER GAME	SHUTOUTS
1. Tabby Tindell- 0.82 (13-16)	1. Brittany Brown- 37.1 (12-15)
2. Evdokia Popadinova- 0.78 (18)	2. Stephanie Powers- 31 (08-11)
3. Marjorie Boilesen- 0.43 (17-18)	3. Melissa Weck- 27.4 (16-18)
Amber McCall- 0.44 (07-09)	4. Kirsi Keenan- 8 (07-10)
5. Varin Ness- 0.42 (17)	5. Emily Barrett- 3 (07-09)
SAVES	SAVE PERCENTAGE
1. Brittany Brown- 274 (12-15)	1. Stephanie Powers- .834 (08-11)
2. Stephanie Powers- 261 (08-11)	2. Brittany Brown- .830 (12-15)
3. Melissa Weck- 197 (16-18)	Melissa Weck- .830 (16-18)
4. Kirsi Kennan- 55 (07-10)	4. Kirsi Keenan- .775 (07-10)
5. Emily Barrett- 14 (07-09)	5. Emily Barrett- .737 (07-09)
GOALS AGAINST AVERAGE	WINS
1. Brittany Brown- 0.67 (12-15)	1. Brittany Brown- 57 (12-15)
2. Stephanie Powers- 0.73 (08-11)	2. Stephanie Powers- 42 (08-11)
3. Melissa Weck- 0.74 (16-18)	3. Melissa Weck- 41 (16-18)
4. Emily Barrett- 0.84 (07-09)	4. Kirsi Keenan- 10 (07-10)
5. Kirsi Keenan- 0.90 (07-10)	5. Emily Barrett- 5 (07-09)

 
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.
 
COACH JIM BLANKENSHIP
A veteran of over two decades in collegiate coaching, head coach Jim Blankenship, who was named the ASUN Coach of the Year in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015, has built FGCU women's soccer into a yearly contender in the ASUN Conference and a rising program in the South Region in just 11 seasons. Blankenship started the program in 2007 and has since guided the Eagles to 11 double-digit win seasons, culminating with ASUN Regular Season Championships in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017. In 2011 and 2012 he also led the Eagles to back-to-back ASUN Tournament titles and became the first team in the history of the university to make it to the NCAA Tournament. The Eagles went on to win the 2014 ASUN Tournament and hosted the first NCAA Championship event on campus. The Eagles earned their fourth NCAA Tournament appearance with the 2015 ASUN Tournament Championship and won their first NCAA game at USF in 2015 while finishing 24th in the nation. In 2016, the Eagles made it three-consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament with a third-straight ASUN Tournament title. A year later, the Eagles became the first ASUN women's soccer program to make four-straight NCAA Tournaments with another tournament title in 2017. Blankenship has guided FGCU to a 156-54-23 (71.9 W%) overall record through the first 12 seasons of the program's existence, including a 76-14-14 (79.8 W%) mark in the ASUN. Blankenship's impressive career record of 396-125-34 (74.4 W%) over 26 seasons has come while leading FGCU, the University of Miami, Lynn University and St. Thomas University.
 
#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