CULVER CITY, Calif. – After scoring her first career goal and assisting on another, sophomore Leah Scarpelli (Brick, N.J./Brick Memorial/Penn State) has received an honorable mention spot on TopDrawerSoccer.com's National Team of the Week. The squad, which highlighted 11 players and awarded honorable mention selections to another 12, represents the best-of-the best from the past week of college soccer. Scarpelli was instrumental in the FGCU women's soccer team's (3-1-2, 1-1-0 ASUN) recent 4-0 victory over Jacksonville.

"This was a welcomed return back to play for Leah," head coach Jim Blankenship said. "It's really nice to see her recognized. She truly put her stamp on this weekend's game and was a difference-maker in our attack."

This is the first national honor for Scarpelli, who came away from her first ASUN Conference match with three points. During the game against the Dolphins, she assisted on junior Alyssa Abbondandolo's (Cape Coral, Fla./Oasis HS) game-winner before netting a goal of her own just two minutes later. Her shot was assisted by freshman Alyssa Wilson (Fort Myers, Fla./Fort Myers HS) and junior Kara Kyramarios (Titusville, Fla./Titusville HS).

Thanks to Scarpelli's efforts, FGCU was one of 13 non-Power 5 institutions to be represented on TopDrawerSoccer.com's Team of the Week. The Penn State transfer is also the second Eagle to be honored by the outlet this season, as freshman Mia Krusinski (Lewisville, Texas/Ursuline Academy of Dallas) landed a spot on the squad after posting her first career shutout.

The former U.S. U-15 WNT captain is the second player to be recognized this week, joining Abbondandolo, who was tabbed ASUN Player of the Week.

FGCU will continue the conference portion of its slate this weekend on the road at UNF. The two sides, who have already played once this season, will face off at 4 p.m. on Saturday, March 13 at Hodges 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 169-60-27 (.716) overall record through the first 13 seasons of the program's existence, including an 83-16-15 (.801) mark in the ASUN. Blankenship's impressive career record of 410-131-38 (.743) over 26 seasons has come while leading FGCU, the University of Miami, Lynn University and St. Thomas University.

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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 84 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--