FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU women's soccer team will open up the 2019 season at home with a 7 p.m. match against FIU on Thursday, Aug. 22. The game will be streamed on YouTube Live for fans who cannot attend.
The matchup against the Panthers marks the start of the Eagles' campaign for a seventh ASUN Tournament title in the past 10 seasons. Seniors
Evdokia Popadinova and
Melissa Weck lead the charge, after being named ASUN Preseason Player of the Year and Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year, respectively. Classmates
Lindsey Patton and
Marjorie Boilesen joined the pair on the Preseason All-Conference team and are predicted to be top contributors for this year's squad.
FGCU has only dropped one game to FIU in the history between the two programs, which the Eagles lead 9-1-1. Aside from a tie in 2009, the only time the Panthers have bested the Green and Blue was a 1-0 win in Fort Myers during the 2010 season. FIU returns 17 players from last year's squad that went 0-17-1 with a 0-9-1 mark in C-USA play. The returnees will be joined by 14 newcomers, including nine freshmen.
Multiple Eagles enter the 2019 season having already secured spots in the Green and Blue record book.
Weck (Yorba Linda, CA/Esperanza HS) begins her senior campaign with 198 career saves, good for third in program history, and needs 76 to tie the record after finish last season with 65. The keeper's miniscule goals-against average of 0.73 checks in at second on the all-time list.
Boilesen (Sao Paulo, Brazil/West Florida) already sits at the top of the program with a career average of 0.47 assists per game, almost a full 0.10 ahead of second place. Her 18 career assists through just two seasons in Fort Myers are good for seventh.
In addition to the preseason recognition from the ASUN,
Popadinova (Hadzhidimovo, Bulgaria/Northwestern Ohio) has garnered national attention. The forward was named to the 2019 MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List and was recently ranked 35th among the nation's collegiate women's soccer players by TopDrawerSoccer.com. Last year, she paced the league in points (35), goals (14), points per game (1.84) and goals per game (0.74) en route to collecting Second Team All-American honors from the United Soccer Coaches Association.
Patton (Jacksonville, FL/Oakleaf HS) joined Popadinova on the South All-Region first team, while Boilesen was selected to the Third Team.
Head coach
Jim Blankenship's team is joined by seven newcomers in his 13th season at the helm.
Lander Peck,
Amanda Crisalli and
Lilly Lakich all come from the state of Florida, while
Alison Wessel and
Kailyn Sheehan both traveled down to Fort Myers from Illinois.
Emily McCue and
Louise Lillback are furthest from home, hailing from Vancouver and Stockholm, respectively.
Following the home opener against FIU, the Green and Blue will remain at the Nest to take on Auburn in a 1 p.m. match on Sunday, Aug. 25. The Tigers received votes in the preseason United Soccer Coaches Association Poll after receiving an at-large bid to last season's NCAA Tournament. The game will be a rematch of the first round of the 2014 NCAA Tournament when the Eagles hosted Auburn at the FGCU Soccer Complex. That match was the first meeting between the two programs and remains the only NCAA Tournament event to be held on FGCU's campus.
FALL SPORTS SINGLE-GAME, SEASON AND GROUP TICKETS ON SALE
Single game tickets for volleyball, men's soccer and women's soccer are on sale now. Prices are $7 for adults and $5 for military/veterans (with ID) and youth (age 15 and under).
Season tickets (entry to each home game) are $55 for volleyball and women's soccer and $40 for men's soccer. Group tickets are $7 for groups of 15 or more and will include reserved seats, group recognition, a group activity and choice of FGCU gear or food. Fall Frequent Flyer passes, which includes a total of 30 entries to all three sports, are just $99.
For all inquiries, you can visit FGCUtickets.com, call 239-590-7145 or stop by the ticket office, which is open daily Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and one hour prior to all home events.
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 12 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 as they 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 156-55-23 (.710) overall record through the first 12 seasons of the program's existence, including a 76-14-14 (.798) mark in the ASUN. Blankenship's impressive career record of 396-126-34 (.741) 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.
ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 78 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 11+ seasons at the Division-I level. Additionally, in just seven+ seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 36 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. Seven FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport - including both men's soccer, women's soccer, and women's basketball again in 2018-19. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.35 GPA in the classroom in spring 2018 and have outpaced their institution's undergraduate student body GPA each of the past 20 semesters. In 2016-17, the Green and Blue posted a department-best sixth-place finish in the DI-AAA Learfield Directors' Cup and top-100 showing nationally, ahead of several Power-5 and FBS institutions. The Eagles also served an all-time high 7,200 volunteer hours - being recognized as one of two runners-up for the inaugural NACDA Community Service Award presented by the Fiesta Bowl in 2017.
-- FGCUATHLETICS.COM –
