FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU women's soccer team battled with Austin Peay for 90 minutes, Sunday, playing to a scoreless draw. The Eagles pick up a point in the ASUN standings and go to 6-1-1 and 8-5-1 overall while Austin Peay is now 1-5-3 in league play and 3-8-6 overall.

"Any time you play a conference game, it's going to be tough," said head coach Jim Blankenship. "We had our chances but ultimately couldn't convert. We'll take the point and now move on to Stetson."

The Eagles outshot Austin Peay, 25-10, and had a 7-4 edge in shots on goal. The Eagles also had five corner kicks while conceding none.

Graduate student Katie Sullivan (Wheaton, Ill/Wheaton North HS/Creighton) made four saves to collect her fifth shutout of the season.

Three defenders – graduate Margaret Berry (Holly, Mich./Fenton HS/Boston, graduate Libby Helverson (West Des Moines, Ill./Valley HS/Drake), and senior Lilly Lakich (Lithia, Fla./Newsome HS) in her first-career start – played the whole 90 minutes to contribute to the shutout as well.

After a scoreless first half, the Eagles ramped up the pressure in the second stanza, outshooting the Governors, 14-4, but still could not find the back of the net.

Freshman Erika Zschuppe (Kirtland, Ohio/Kirtland HS) had the most opportunities in the game for the Eagles with eight shots, seven of which came in the second half. She also had the best chance of the day in the 70^th minute, taking a shot that was saved by the APSU goalkeeper before hitting the crossbar and bouncing straight down, but not over the line.

Despite the tie today, the Eagles still control their own destiny in hosting the first two rounds of the postseason. If they win their final two games, they will have 25 points which at worst would be tied with Lipscomb for second place. However, with FGCU's win over the Bisons on Thursday, the Eagles hold the tiebreaker.

The Eagles will now turn their attention to Stetson on Wednesday in the penultimate game of the regular season. This contest is the rescheduled game that was postponed on October 1^st because of the effects of Hurricane Ian. Kickoff from DeLand is set for 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 192-74-29 (.700) overall record through the first 16 seasons of the program's existence, including an 99-20-16 (.793) mark in the ASUN. Blankenship's impressive career record of 432-145-40 (.733) over 32 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 92 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 15 seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just 11 seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 45 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. In 2022, the men's golf team became the first program to earn at at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament. Eight FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport - including women's basketball (No. 20, 2021-22), beach volleyball (No. 20, 2022) and both men's soccer (2018, 2019) and women's soccer (2018) as four 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 26 consecutive semesters. The past five semesters (Fall 2019 – Spring 2022) saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher cumulative 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.