JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Thanks to a second-half scoring spurt that featured four goals, the FGCU women's soccer team (3-1-2, 1-1-0 ASUN) picked up its first ASUN Conference win of the season, downing Jacksonville (0-6-1, 0-1-1 ASUN) on Saturday afternoon at Southern Oak Stadium.

Junior Alyssa Abbondandolo (Cape Coral, Fla./Oasis HS) led the Eagles with a pair of goals, marking the second game in her career that she has achieved the feat.

"We bounced back today," head coach Jim Blankenship said. "I'm really happy for our players because they put a lot of effort in throughout the day and they were able to get a return on it. We saw some great goals scored and I'm looking forward to seeing how we can build off of today's performance."

Though neither side was able to score in the opening 45 minutes, the Eagles earned a clear advantage in both possession and chances. FGCU outshot Jacksonville 9-2 during the first half and tallied four attempts on-goal. Sophomore Louise Lillback (Stockholm, Sweden/Tibble Gymnasium), Abbondandolo, senior Zoey Spitzer (Naples, Fla./Gulf Coast HS) and graduate student Meagan Gruber (Long Beach, Calif./Woodrow Wilson/Jacksonville) all tested the Dolphins' keeper before the break, while freshman Mia Krusinski (Lewisville, Fla./Ursuline Academy of Dallas) was forced to make just two stops.

FGCU continued to control the game in the second half, firing off four shots within the first 10 minutes of kickoff.

After nearly 75 minutes of scoreless soccer, Abbondandolo was finally able to break the seal with her second goal of the season. The forward snuck a ball past a diving Courtney Green to put FGCU on top, 1-0. Her shot was assisted by sophomore Leah Scarpelli (Brick, N.J./Brick Memorial/Penn State), marking the first points of the transfer's FGCU career.

Less than three minutes after tallying her first assist, Scarpelli found the back of the net with a shot of her own that extended the Eagles' advantage to 2-0. After receiving the ball from freshman Alyssa Wilson (Fort Myers, Fla./Fort Myers HS), Scarpelli drilled it into the top left corner of the net for her first Green & Blue goal.

Scarpelli later attempted what would have been her second goal of the day, but her shot was blocked by the Dolphins' keeper. The ball bounced off of Courtney Green, who was unable to get a grip on it, and Lillback knocked in the rebound, netting her fifth goal of the season. The Preseason All-ASUN pick put the Eagles up 3-0.

Jacksonville made one final attempt at getting in on the scoring after earning a corner kick in the 87th minute. The Dolphins' Tinotenda Chiweshe got her foot on a ball and put some power behind it, but her shot sailed wide to the left of the net.

With just over a minute left on the clock, Abbondandolo netted her second and the team's final goal of the day, boosting FGCU to its 4-0 margin. Senior Syniah Clark (Cape Coral, Fla./Ida Baker HS) was credited with the assist, the fourth of her career.

Krusinski, who finished her afternoon with three stops, picked up the fourth shutout of her rookie season. With the win, the Eagles extended their all-time advantage over the Dolphins to 9-2-6 and added to their now 15-match unbeaten streak against Jacksonville.

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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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--