FORT MYERS, Fla. – Following her dominant debut performance against Utah Valley, FGCU women's soccer (1-0) freshman Mia Krusinski (Lewisville, Texas/Ursuline Academy of Dallas) has been tabbed the ASUN Defensive Player of the Week. Additionally, the keeper landed a spot on TopDrawerSoccer.com's Team of the Week as one of two freshmen to be named to the 11-player squad. Both announcements were made on Tuesday, coming on the heels of Sunday's 1-0 overtime win against Utah Valley.

In her collegiate debut, Krusinski made eight stops while shutting out the Wolverines, who scored five goals during their season-opener against FAU. She is one of just three players in the program's 14-year history to begin her career with a shutout, joining former Eagles Brittany Brown and Emily Barrett. Additionally, her eight saves tie for the eighth-most made in FGCU's single-game history.

Krusinski's 93 minutes of stalwart play set the stage for sophomore Louise Lillback's (Stockholm, Sweden/Tibble Gymnasium) game-winning goal, as the forward connected her shot in overtime. Lillback's goal, which was assisted by junior Alyssa Abbondandolo (Cape Coral, Fla./Oasis HS), boosted the Eagles to their fourth-consecutive, season-opening win.

"These are wonderful honors for Mia and are both very well-deserved," head coach Jim Blankenship said. "She made some big saves on Sunday and played with a ton of leadership and composure for a freshman."

Krusinski is just the fourth Eagle to land a spot on TopDrawerSoccer.com's Team of the Week and the second of her position. She joins former ASUN Goalkeeper of the Year Melissa Weck (2016-19), former First Team All-ASUN honoree Marjorie Boilesen (2017-19) and former two-time All-Americans Tabby Tindell (2013-16) and Evdokia Popadinova (2018-19) in achieving the feat.

If the Texas native receives two more weekly ASUN honors this year, she will tie Brown for the freshman record of three ASUN Defensive Player of the Week selections.

With the win over Utah Valley behind them, the FGCU women's soccer team will now prepare for its upcoming game against FAU on Thursday, Feb. 11. Kick-off at the FGCU Soccer Complex is scheduled for 7 p.m.

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.

TopDrawerSoccer.com Team of the Week
GK - Mia Krusinski, FGCU
D - Chai Cortez, Oregon
D - Chloe Fell, North Alabama
D - Sydney Struder, Oregon State
M - Marley Canales, UCLA
M - Laurel Landry, Central Arkansas
M - Tanya Boychuk, Memphis
M - Hannah Larson, Saint Louis
F - Kylie Sprecher, Marquette
F - Cameron Tucker, BYU 
F - Nicole Douglas, Arizona State
 
ASUN Player of the Week: Thais Reiss, UNF
ASUN Defensive Player of the Week: Mia Krusinski, FGCU

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 168-59-25 (.716) overall record through the first 13 seasons of the program's existence, including an 82-15-15 (.801) mark in the ASUN. Blankenship's impressive career record of 408-130-36 (.743) over 26 seasons has come while leading FGCU, the University of Miami, Lynn University and St. Thomas University.

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IT TAKES A TEAM to achieve our newest goal - a $10 million campaign to address student-athlete needs in continued academic success, life skills, mental health, nutrition, and strength and conditioning as well as departmental needs in facility expansion and improvement as well as mentoring and leadership training for coaches and staff. The name embodies our mission and the purpose of the E.A.G.L.E. Campaign - Eagle Athletics Generating Lifetime Excellence. Join Our Team and pledge your gift today to help the Eagles of tomorrow!
 
#FEEDFGCU
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 82 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--