FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU women's soccer team (7-2-2) will take on Kennesaw State (7-7) in the ASUN Semifinal on Thursday, April 15. The match, which is slated for a 7 p.m. start, will be played on the Owls' home field at Fifth Third Bank Stadium as Kennesaw is hosting each of the ASUN Final Four games.
The winner of Thursday's match will face either No. 1 UNF or No. 4 Liberty in the ASUN Championship at 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 17. Each of the Final Four games will be open to fans and will additionally be streamed on ESPN+. For further details regarding the 2020-21 ASUN Women's Soccer Championship, click
here.
The Eagles, who have won four-straight games, are coming off a 2-1 quarterfinal win over No. 3S Jacksonville. Junior
Alyssa Abbondandolo (Cape Coral, Fla./Oasis HS) netted a pair of goals to boost the Eagles past the Dolphins. Senior
Zoey Spitzer (Naples, Fla./Gulf Coast HS) picked up an assist on the second shot, pushing her to three on the season. With the addition of her two goals, Abbondandolo now has six in 2020-21 and is one short of tying sophomore
Louise Lillback (Stockholm, Sweden/Tibble Gymnasium) for the team lead.
Freshman
Mia Krusinski (Lewisville, Texas/Ursuline Academy of Dallas) recovered after being scored on in the 27th minute of action and finished her day with one save. The rookie is tied with Liberty's Melody Jayroe for the league lead with six shutouts, an effort that is three shy of tying former Eagle Brittany Brown's (2012-15) freshman record of nine. She additionally paces the league with a .816 save percentage and ranks second with a goals-against average of 0.62
As a team, the Eagles are tied with Lipscomb for the conference lead with 20 assists and check in at third with 18 goals. The squad's six shutouts are the most of any other ASUN program and its eight goals-against are the second-lowest. Freshman
Kajsa Lang (Kalmar, Sweden/Stagneliusskolan), who was just named to TopDrawerSoccer.com's Freshman Top 100, has been a key component in FGCU's backline having logged the second-most minutes of the team. She is one of 10 different players that have tallied at least one assist this season.
Kennesaw is coming off a 1-0 shutout over third-seeded Bellarmine in the ASUN Quarterfinal. After 87 minutes of scoreless soccer, returning ASUN Freshman of the Year Becky Contreras scored the game-winner to keep the Owls' season alive. The goal was Contreras' first of the year, though she entered the game with a pair of assists under her belt.
As a team, the Owls have scored the fifth-most goals in the ASUN (13). Seven different players have found the back of the net, led by senior Erin Harris' five. A majority of the team's goals have been scored against ASUN opponents, as the team netted three during its non-conference slate.
Redshirt-sophomore Dylan Pixton has started between the pipes in 12 of the team's 14 games. Her 50 stops are the fourth-most of any other keeper in the conference and she ranks sixth in goals-against (16). She has picked up four shutouts, all of which have been tallied against league opponents.
During Thursday's meeting, the Eagles will look to avenge a 2-1 loss in penalty kicks to Kennesaw State from the 2019 ASUN Semifinal. Overall, FGCU is 2-0-1 against the Owls in the postseason. A win on Thursday would put the team in the ASUN Championship game for the first time since the 2017 season and extend the Eagles' hunt for their seventh ASUN Tournament title.
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 174-61-27 (.716) overall record through the first 13 seasons of the program's existence, including an 86-17-15 (.801) mark in the ASUN. Blankenship's impressive career record of 414-132-38 (.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--
