FORT MYERS, FL- FGCU embarks on their final non-conference road trip of the season this weekend, making a stop in Miami on Thursday to take on FIU, before going to the Windy City Sunday to battle Loyola. 

LAST TIME OUT- The Eagles remained undefeated despite a difficult two game swing to Ohio last weekend.

Friday they earned one of the biggest wins in program history with a 1-0 triumph over Ohio State in Columbus.  Evdokia Popadinova (Hadzhidimovo, Bulgaria/Nikola Vaptsarov/Northwestern Ohio) flipped a Holly Fritz (Cape Coral, FL/Mariner HS/Florida State) service past the Buckeye goalkeeper in the 12th minute and Melissa Weck (Yorba Linda, CA/Esperanza HS) made that stand up in net with six big saves to give the Eagles the one goal win. 

Sunday they faced some unfavorable conditions as they made the trip an hour West to Dayton to take on the Flyers. In the driving rain that forced a venue change, the Eagles and Flyers played 110 minutes of scoreless soccer, resulting in a 0-0 double overtime draw. 

FGCU dominated the scoring chances in the match, getting off 13 shots to Dayton's six which included four Eagle shots on goal to just one for the Flyers. 

POLLS- FGCU continued to make moves in the polls this week, receiving 37 points towards the NCAA Top 25, for all intent and purposes putting them at #27 this week. The Eagles also went continued their upward trend in the South Region Poll where they climbed to #3 behind only USF and SMU this week. 
UNITED SOCCER COACHES/NCAA TOP 25 POLL
UNITED SOCCER COACHES SOUTH REGION POLL

A WEEK OF FIRSTS- Goalkeeper Melissa Weck achieved a pair of firsts for the FGCU Women's Soccer program this week, first earning the TopDrawerSoccer National Player of the Week award followed by bringing home United Soccer Coaches National Player of the Week honors one day later. 

HOT START- FGCU remains one of 18 teams nationally without a loss four weeks into the season.  At 5-0-1, the Eagles are off to their best start in program history, topping the 4-0-0 beginning to their inaugural 2007 season.

ASUN LEADERS- Several Eagles are currently at the top of the ASUN leaderboards heading into week five.  Popadinova is tied with Shelby Wall of North Alabama for the league lead with five goals on the year. Fritz is tied for third with four tallies while two of those have been game-winners which is tied with six others, including Marjorie Boilesen (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Porto Seguro/West Florida) for most in the league. Weck has given up a league low four goals this season and leads the goals against average category at 0.64. 

CHART CLIMBERS

POINTS PER GAME	ASSISTS PER GAME
1. Tabby Tindell- 2.03 (13-16)	1. Marjorie Boilesen- 0.44 (17-18)
2. Evdokia Popadinova- 2.00 (18)	Holly Fritz- 0.44 (17-18)
3. Marjorie Boilesen- 1.48 (17-18)	3. Tabby Tindell- 0.38 (13-16)
4. Holly Fritz- 1.16 (17-18)	4. Ashley Ciesielczyk- 0.37 (08-12)
5. Amber McCall- 1.06 (07-09)	5. Kelly Sherriff- 0.33 (07)
GOALS PER GAME	SHOTS PER GAME
1. Evdokia Popadinova- 0.83 (18)	1. Tabby Tindell- 3.76 (13-16)
2. Tabby Tindell- 0.82 (13-16)	2. Paulina Speckmaier- 3.33 (13-16)
3. Marjorie Boilesen- 0.52 (17-18)	3. Evdokia Popadinova- 2.83 (18)
4. Amber McCall- 0.44 (07-09)	4. Holly Fritz- 2.52 (17-18)
5. Varin Ness- 0.42 (17)	5. Amber McCall- 2.37 (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- 153 (16-18)	3. Melissa Weck- .814 (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- 0.78 (16-18)	3. Melissa Weck- 33 (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)
SHUTOUTS
1. Brittany Brown- 37.1 (12-15)
2. Stephanie Powers- 31 (08-11)
3. Melissa Weck- 23.2 (16-18)
4. Kirsi Keenan- 8 (07-10)
5. Emily Barrett- 3 (07-09)

 
ASUN

Team	Record	Last Week/This Week
Kennesaw State	7-1-0	W- Georgia Southern (1-0), W- Georgia (2-1)
		@ Samford (Thur), vs. Mercer (Sun)
NJIT	4-2-1	L- Quinnipiac (3-1)
		vs. Temple (Fri), @ UMBC (Sun)
North Alabama	5-3-0	L- Abilene Christian (2-0), L- UAB (2-1)
		@ Chattanooga (Thur), vs. Troy (Sun)
Lipscomb	4-2-2	L- Northern Kentucky (2-0), W- Miami Ohio (3-2 OT)
		@ Cincinnati (Thur), vs. Kentucky (Sun)
North Florida	4-3-0	W- Appalachian St. (1-0), W- South Carolina State (3-1)
		vs. Webber International (Thur), @ Wofford (Sun)
Stetson	3-3-2	L- LSU (2-0), vs. T- Miami (1-1)
		vs. UCF (Sun)
Liberty	1-6-0	L- Virginia (6-0), L- Clemson (5-0)
		@ James Madison (Wed)
Jacksonville	0-7-1	T- Miami (1-1), L- Charleston Southern (2-1)
		No Games Scheduled This Week

 
THE FIU PANTHERS- The Panthers have struggled out of the gates in 2018, failing to yield a result through seven contests. 

No one area of the FIU attack can be pinpointed for their problems as they have given up 26 goals and only scored 3 thus far. 

The Panthers last time out was their best performance of the season as they scored twice against #28 SMU on the road.
 
The Eagles lead the all-time series 8-1-1 over the Panthers with FIU's only win coming in 2010. 

THE LOYOLA RAMBLERS- Loyola enters Sunday at 3-5-0 overall, but don't let that record fool you.  The Ramblers have played a tough early season schedule which has included battles with ranked Notre Dame and Oklahoma State squads, as well as Wisconsin. 

A season ago the Ramblers scored 61 goals, which was second most in the country.  This year that number has tempered to just under two goals per game, but has included a pair of four goal outbursts at home at Loyola Soccer Park. 

Jenna Szczesny leads the Ramblers in nearly every category including goals (3), assists (3), points (9), shots (25), and shots on goal (8). 

Sunday marks the first meeting all-time between FGCU and Loyola. 

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 148-51-22 (72.0 W%) overall record through the first 11 seasons of the program's existence, including a 71-11-14 (81.1 W%) mark in the ASUN. Blankenship's impressive career record of 388-122-33 (74.5 W%) over 25 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.