FORT MYERS, Fla. – With a tough non-conference season behind them, the FGCU women's soccer team (4-5, 1-0 ASUN) turned to ASUN play, Thursday evening, and got off to a strong start, defeating Eastern Kentucky, 2-0.
Sophomore
Louise Lillback (Stockholm, Sweden/Tibble Gymnasium) and junior
Alyssa Abbondandolo (Cape Coral, Fla./Oasis HS) each found the back of the net in the second half for the Eagles to lead FGCU to victory.
"A phenomenal result against a really good team," said head coach
Jim Blankenship. "I thought the team played with a lot of passion and the game was at a very intense level. It's a great result, it's the first one. Everyone got to press the restart button and I was impressed with the players and how they approached it."
The Eagles took 20 shots, half of which were on goal, compared to 12 shots for the Colonels (4-5, 0-1 ASUN), while EKU had a 7-5 advantage on corner kicks
.
It was Lillback's second goal of the season while Abbondandolo picked up her first. Freshmen
Olivia Lindstedt (Gluumslov, Sweden/Malmo Idrottsgymnasium) and
Alyssa Wilson (Fort Myers, Fla./Fort Myers HS) each picked up assists on the goals for the Eagles.
In goal, junior
Katie Sullivan (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton North HS/Creighton) made six saves to secure her third shutout of the season.
After a scoreless first half, Lillback put the Eagles on the board with a wild goal in the 63
rd minute. Her shot hit the foot of the defender and looped over the keeper toward the goal before hitting the crossbar. However, with the backspin generated off the defender's foot, it bounced back toward the net and eventually went it before any Colonel could clear it away.
Abbondandolo put the game on ice in the 88
th minute. Off a nice pass from Wilson, she fired a shot from out wide and got it past the keeper despite getting her hands on the ball.
FGCU will return to Pickering Field on Sunday as they host Bellarmine. Kickoff is set for 1 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 178-67-27 (.704) overall record through the first 15 seasons of the program's existence, including an 87-17-15 (.794) mark in the ASUN. Blankenship's impressive career record of 418-138-38 (.736) over 31 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 14+ seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just ten seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 42 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, 2020 Fall, and 2021 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.
