FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU women's soccer team (4-2-2, 2-2-0 ASUN) will close out the home portion of its regular-season slate this weekend with a game against Jacksonville (1-7-1, 1-2-1 ASUN) on Sunday, March 28. Kick-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. at the FGCU Soccer Complex and the game will be a white out. Attendance will be open to approximately 500 fans, all of whom must remain masked and socially distanced at all times. For those who cannot attend, there will be a stream on the team's YouTube page.
Sunday's match will be preceded by a senior day ceremony, during which head coach
Jim Blankenship and his staff will honor
Kavina Ganeshan (Pickering, Ontario/Pickering HS),
Cassidy Morgan (Weston, Fla./Cypress Bay HS) and
Natalie Schaps (Guatemala City, Guatemala/American School of Guatemala). Since joining the team as freshmen in 2017, the trio has helped FGCU win a pair of regular season titles, an ASUN Tournament crown and earned one NCAA Tournament berth.
FGCU will enter the game looking for its second-consecutive conference win after defeating Stetson 3-0 last weekend at The Nest. Sophomore
Louise Lillback (Stockholm, Sweden/Tibble Gymnasium) helped boost the Eagles past the Hatters, scoring a pair of goals on 11 shots. For her efforts, she was named ASUN Player of the Week, becoming the third player to be tabbed for one of the league's weekly awards this season. Lillback was joined in the scoring by junior
Alyssa Abbondandolo (Cape Coral, Fla./Oasis HS), who netted her fourth goal of the year. Three different Eagles picked up assists during the match, as senior
Zoey Spitzer (Naples, Fla./Gulf Coast HS), Ganeshan and graduate student
Meagan Gruber (Long Beach, Calif./Woodrow Wilson/Jacksonville) were all credited.
Lillback is currently second among the league's leaders in both goals (seven) and points (14). With seven goals this year, and the additional seven from her rookie season, she currently ranks 10th all-time in FGCU history (14). Junior
Kara Kyramarios (Titusville, Fla./Titusville HS) also checks into the ASUN statistical rankings, as her three assists are the most of any other conference player. She is joined on the list by both freshmen
Ashley Labbe (Lake Worth, Fla./Suncoast HS) and
Alyssa Wilson (Fort Myers, Fla./Fort Myers HS), who lead all league rookies with two assists apiece.
During the recent match against Stetson, freshman
Mia Krusinski (Lewsiville, Texas/Ursuline Academy of Dallas) picked up the fifth shutout of her rookie season. She is just the second player in program history to pick up five shutouts in her first eight games, joining former Eagle Brittany Brown (2012-15), and is currently tied with Liberty's Melody Jayroe for the conference lead. Krusinski ranks second in the ASUN in both goals-against average (0.71) and save percentage (.793).
The Dolphins are coming off a double-overtime loss against league-leader UNF, which they suffered last Saturday on the Ospreys' home field. The game, which was decided in the 104th minute of play, originally saw Jacksonville jump out to an early, 1-0 lead after Emma Wood netted her first goal of the season within the opening 15 minutes.
Wood is one of three Dolphins that have found the back of the net this year, joined by sophomore Shelby Brim (two) and freshman Gabby Holtrop (one). As a team, Jacksonville has been outscored by opponents 16-4 in its 2021 slate.
Sunday's game will be the second that the two teams have played this season. Earlier this year, the Eagles made the trip up to Jacksonville and claimed a 4-0 victory (March 6). The result extended FGCU's record against Jacksonville to 9-2-6 all-time, as well as the team's current five-match, regular-season winning streak against the Dolphins.
ASUN Roundup
South Division Standings
| School |
ASUN |
Points |
Overall |
| UNF |
3-0-0 |
9 |
6-0-0 |
| FGCU |
2-2-0 |
6 |
4-2-2 |
| Jacksonville |
1-2-1 |
4 |
1-7-1 |
| Stetson |
0-3-1 |
1 |
1-4-1 |
North Division Standings
| School |
ASUN |
Points |
Overall |
| Lipscomb |
4-0-1 |
13 |
5-2-1 |
| Kennesaw State |
4-2-0 |
12 |
5-6-0 |
| Liberty |
2-3-2 |
8 |
3-4-4 |
| Bellarmine |
2-3-1 |
7 |
2-5-1 |
| North Alabama |
0-4-2 |
2 |
1-6-2 |
Recent Results
Wednesday, March 24
Florida 2, UNF 0
Thursday, March 25
Kennesaw State 1, Liberty 0
Upcoming Games
Sunday, March 28
Liberty at Bellarmine – Noon
Lipscomb at Kennesaw State – 1 p.m.
Jacksonville at FGCU – 1 p.m.
Stetson at UNF – 6 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 171-61-27 (.716) overall record through the first 13 seasons of the program's existence, including an 84-17-15 (.801) mark in the ASUN. Blankenship's impressive career record of 411-132-38 (.743) over 26 seasons has come while leading FGCU, the University of Miami, Lynn University and St. Thomas University.
E.A.G.L.E. CAMPAIGN
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 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. Eight FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport - including women's basketball (No. 21, 2020-21), beach volleyball (No. 20, 2021) 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 in their sport. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.50 GPA in the classroom in the fall 2020 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 23 consecutive semesters. The 2019 Fall, 2020 Spring, and 2020 Fall 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--
