FORT MYERS, Fla. – After playing back-to-back conference games on the road, the FGCU women's soccer team (3-2-2, 1-2-0 ASUN) will return to the FGCU Soccer Complex to host ASUN foe Stetson (1-3-1, 0-2-1 ASUN) on Saturday, March 20. Kick-off against the Hatters is slated for 2 p.m. and the game will be open to approximately 500 fans, all of whom must wear masks and maintain social distancing. For fans who cannot attend, there will be a stream on YouTube Live.
Saturday's meeting will be the 15th in the history between the two schools, which currently favors the Eagles 12-1-1. In the 14 years that the teams have played each other, FGCU has outscored Stetson 37-9. The programs will additionally face each other in the last week of the regular season, as the Hatters are scheduled to host the Green & Blue on Friday, April 2.
The Eagles will enter the weekend looking to bounce back after dropping a 1-0 decision on the road against league-leader UNF. An early penalty kick made the difference for the Ospreys, who were evenly matched with the Eagles in overall shots on-goal (four). Sophomore
Louise Lillback (Stockholm, Sweden/Tibble Gymnasium) led the team with two on-frame attempts, but was unable to get past UNF's Mercedes Sapp. The Preseason All-ASUN Pick was one of three Eagles to test the keeper during the match, joined by sophomore
Leah Scarpelli (Brick, N.J./Brick Memorial/Penn State) and senior
Kavina Ganeshan (Pickering, Ontario/Pickering HS).
Despite the loss, FGCU remains well-represented among the league's statistical rankings. Junior
Kara Kyramarios' (Titusville, Fla./Titusville HS) three assists are the most of any other player in the ASUN, while both freshmen
Ashley Labbe (Lake Worth, Fla./Suncoast HS) and
Alyssa Wilson (Fort Myers, Fla./Fort Myers HS) lead the conference rookies with two assists apiece. Lillback checks in at second among the conference's leaders in points (10) and goals (five) and is joined on the goals list by junior
Alyssa Abbondandolo (Cape Coral, Fla./Oasis HS), who is tied for fourth (three).
Additionally, the Eagles have received weekly honors from the ASUN in all but three weeks this season. Freshman
Mia Krusinski (Lewisville, Texas/Ursuline Academy of Dallas) opened up her rookie campaign with back-to-back Defensive Player of the Week selections and Abbondandolo was tabbed Player of the Week after her two-goal performance against Jacksonville.
The Hatters will bring their two-match losing streak to Fort Myers, having dropped a pair of games to UNF (0-1) and Jacksonville (0-1). The team, which opened up its conference slate with a 2-2 draw at Jacksonville, has not won a game since defeating FIU, 3-1, on Feb. 18.
Senior Lily Truong and graduate student Jackie Fiacco are tied for the team lead with two goals apiece, while just two other Hatters have found the back of the net this season (sophomores Britney Bertram and Maggie Struble). The squad's six total goals check in at fourth in the ASUN this year, behind FGCU (10), Lipscomb (11) and UNF (15).
After missing the season-opener against Georgia Southern, freshman Ashleigh Wise has started between the pipes in each of the team's last four matches. She has been scored on five times, pushing her goals-against average to a 1.17. The rookie has made nine stops so far and owns a .643 save percentage.
ASUN Roundup
South Division Standings
| School |
ASUN Record |
Overall Record |
| UNF |
3-0-0 |
6-0-0 |
| Jacksonville |
1-1-1 |
1-6-1 |
| FGCU |
1-2-0 |
3-2-2 |
| Stetson |
0-2-1 |
1-3-1 |
North Division Standings
| School |
ASUN Record |
Overall Record |
| Lipscomb |
3-0-1 |
4-2-1 |
| Liberty |
2-1-1 |
3-2-3 |
| Bellarmine |
2-2-0 |
2-4-0 |
| Kennesaw State |
2-2-0 |
3-6-0 |
| North Alabama |
0-4-0 |
1-6-0 |
Upcoming Games
Friday, March 19
Lipscomb at Liberty – Noon
Saturday, March 20
Stetson at FGCU – 2 p.m.
UNF at Jacksonville – 6 p.m.
Sunday, March 21
Bellarmine at Kennesaw State – Noon
Liberty at North Alabama – 1 p.m.
Lipscomb at Vanderbilt – 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.
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 170-61-27 (.716) overall record through the first 13 seasons of the program's existence, including an 83-17-15 (.801) mark in the ASUN. Blankenship's impressive career record of 410-132-38 (.743) over 26 seasons has come while leading FGCU, the University of Miami, Lynn University and St. Thomas University.
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#FEEDFGCU
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ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 85 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 40 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--
