JACKSONVILLE, FL- The FGCU Women's Soccer team (7-0-2) put together a dominating effort in their ASUN opener Friday night in Jacksonville, as they clobbered the Dolphins (0-8-1) by a count of 6-0 on their home field to open conference play with a win for the eighth straight season. 

"That's a phenomenal way to start conference play" head coach Jim Blankenship, who earned his 150th win with the Eagles Friday, said.  "It's important to get off on the right foot and our kids took a great mentality into the game and set the tone early and then were relentless throughout. I am very proud of them"

It didn't take long for the Eagles to get going, as less than 10 minutes into things, they were already on the board as Kara Kyramarios (Titusville, FL/Titusville HS) found Marjorie Boilesen (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Porto Seguro/West Florida) who beat the keeper to make it 1-0 FGCU. 

In the 26th minute, the Eagles were on the attack again as Cassidy Morgan (Weston, FL/Cypress Bay HS) and Opal Curless (Mount Desert, Maine/Mount Desert Island HS/Syracuse) played a long ball through to Evdokia Popadinova (Hadzhidimovo, Bulgaria/Nikola Vaptsarov/Northwestern Ohio) who found herself one on one with the keeper before whizzing one past her for her sixth goal of the season to put FGCU on top 2-0. 

The Eagles continued to pressure the Dolphin back line as JU didn't manage a single shot for the final 12 minutes of the first half, but FGCU was unable to extend upon their lead thanks in part to four late offsides calls and therefore settled for a 2-0 lead into the break. 

As expected, the stat sheet heavily favored the Eagles in the first 45 minutes as they got off 11 shots to JU's 2 while five of FGCU's found their mark on goal and neither of the Dolphins did. 

Early in the second half, it was the Hope Van Wagner (Avon, IN/Avon HS) show.  The sophomore cashed in her first chance of the night just over three minutes into the period on a silky smooth pass from Popadinova and then launched a rocket from outside the box to the top 90 just moments later to make it a 4-0 game. 

In the 75th minute, the Eagles drew a foul in the box on a free kick to earn a penalty kick.  Shay Jackson (Parkville, MO/Park Hill South HS) took the PK for the Green and Blue and tucked it into the corner of the net to put FGCU in front 5-0.

They weren't done yet though.  Just three minutes later, they got another chance on a corner from Brianna Hatfield (Godfrey, IL/Alton HS) and the freshman put it on the money, finding the head of the hometown girl Lindsey Patton (Jacksonville, FL/Oakleaf HS) for her first goal of the year to put the cherry on top of a 6-0 victory. 

11 different Eagles were a part of the scoring on the night.  Van Wagner led FGCU with four point on her two goals while Popadinova had three points with a goal and an assist.  Melissa Weck (Yorba Linda, CA/Esperanza HS) and Stephanie Starr (Highland Village, TX/Edward Marcus HS) combined for the clean sheet for the Green and Blue.  Weck made a pair of saves before giving way to Starr who had one in 16 minutes of work. 

FGCU had a season high 25 shots in the win and also a season best 15 on goal.  JU managed just seven, with only three of those on net.  The Eagles earned nine corners on the night, taking advantage by netting a pair of goals off set pieces. 

The Eagles will return to the pitch Sunday in Jacksonville when they travel crosstown to take on North Florida (5-3-1) who played to a 1-1 draw with Stetson Friday night. 

ASUN RESULTS
Lipscomb 5 NJIT 1
Kennesaw State 2 NJIT 0
Stetson 1 North Florida 1
FGCU 6 Jacksonville 0
 
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 150-51-23 (72.1 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 390-122-34 (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.