FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU women's soccer team (2-1-2, 0-1 ASUN) dropped its conference-opener to UNF (4-0-0, 1-0 ASUN) on Saturday afternoon at the FGCU Soccer Complex, falling 4-1. Sophomore Louise Lillback (Stockholm, Sweden/Tibble Gymnasium) scored the team's only goal of the afternoon, marking her fourth time finding the back of the net this season.

Despite the difference in goals, UNF held a narrow, 7-5 overall margin in shots. Three of the Eagles' attempts throughout the 90 minutes were on-frame.

"Obviously, we were disappointed in the result," head coach Jim Blankenship said. "We give a lot of credit to UNF. It's been a while since another team has come in and played the way that they did today. We've got work to do and we have to find ways to get better. I know that our team is disappointed, but we can't change it. We have to grow from it and play better as we move forward." 

The Ospreys, who entered the game at the top of the conference's south division standings, were the first to get on the board after ASUN Preseason Player of the Year Thais Reiss scored in the 14th minute of action. Ten minutes later, UNF extended its advantage to 2-0 with a shot that was snuck past freshman keeper Mia Krusinski (Lewisville, Texas/Ursuline Academy of Dallas).

With less than a minute remaining in the first period, the Eagles got in on the scoring thanks to Lillback's goal, which trimmed the visitors' lead down to one. Her shot was the team's third of the half and was assisted by freshmen Ashley Labbe (Lake Worth, Fla./Suncoast HS) and Kajsa Lang (Kalmar, Sweden/Stagnieusskolan) and sent the teams into the break with a 2-1 score.

Each side recorded a shot pretty quickly after the start of the second half, though only UNF's keeper Mercedes Sapp was forced to make a stop. Eventually, UNF found the back of the net with its third goal of the game when Kendra Hoffman scored in the 68th minute.

FGCU had a few more good looks at the net, including one by freshman Kaitlyn Esquivel (Park City, Utah/Park City HS), but her attempt sailed over the crossbar.

With less than seven minutes left in the game, Reiss notched her second goal of the afternoon and boosted the Ospreys to their final 4-1 margin. FGCU kept the pressure on UNF's defense, but was unable to come up with anything.

In addition to the 11 starters, 11 different reserves came off the bench for the Green & Blue.

The Eagles will now turn their attention to their upcoming game on the road at Jacksonville. FGCU is set to face off against the Dolphins on Saturday, March 6 at 1 p.m. at Southern Oak Stadium.

For complete coverage of FGCU women's soccer, follow the Eagles on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook at @FGCU_WSoccer and online at www.FGCUAthletics.com. You can also sign up to have news on FGCU women's soccer or other programs delivered directly to your inbox by visiting www.fgcuathletics.com/email.

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, 2015 and 2019, has built FGCU women's soccer into a yearly contender in the ASUN Conference and a rising program in the South Region in just 13 seasons. Blankenship started the program in 2007 and has since guided the Eagles to 13 double-digit win seasons, culminating with ASUN Regular Season Championships in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2019. 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 168-60-27 (.716) overall record through the first 13 seasons of the program's existence, including an 82-16-15 (.801) mark in the ASUN. Blankenship's impressive career record of 409-131-38 (.743) over 26 seasons has come while leading FGCU, the University of Miami, Lynn University and St. Thomas University.

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FGCU Athletics sponsors events in November and April 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 83 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 13 seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just nine seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 38 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. Seven FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport – including women's basketball (No. 24, 2019-20) and both men's soccer (2018, 2019) and women's soccer (2018) as three of the most recent. 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. In 2018-19, the Eagles had an ASUN and state of Florida best seven teams earn the NCAA's Public Recognition Award for their Academic Progress Rate (APR) in their sport and have had the highest percentage of teams so honored from these two groups over each of the past three years. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.46 GPA in the classroom in the spring 2020 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 22 consecutive semesters. The 2019 Fall and 2020 Spring semesters each saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher team GPA. The Eagles also served an all-time high 7,200 volunteer hours in 2017 – being recognized as one of two runners-up for the inaugural NACDA Community Service Award presented by the Fiesta Bowl.
 
--FGCUATHLETICS.COM--