FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU women's soccer team heads to Stetson to open the final week of the regular season on Wednesday. This is a rescheduled game from Oct. 1 due to the effects of Hurricane Ian and is scheduled to kick off at 7 p.m.
The Eagles are coming off a scoreless draw against Austin Peay on Sunday and now sit at 8-5-1 overall and 6-1-1 in ASUN play. The Green and Blue have already clinched a berth in the ASUN Tournament next week and still have a chance to host the first two rounds if they finish as a top-two seed. The Eagles are currently in third place, three points behind Lipscomb, but if the Eagles win their final two games of the season, the Eagles will be at least the #2 seed as they hold the tiebreaker over the Bisons, who only have one game left this season. FGCU can also still claim the ASUN regular season title by winning its final two games and a Liberty tie or loss against Eastern Kentucky.
Statistical Leaders
On the season, junior
Louise Lillback (Stockholm, Sweden/Tibble Gymnasium) leads the team with 17 points (7g, 3a) while sophomore
Ashley Labbe (Lake Worth, Fla./Suncoast HS) has 15 points (6g, 3a). Junior
Leah Scarpelli (Brick, N.J./Brick Memorial/Penn State) leads the team and the ASUN with six assists while freshman
Marla Gaudlitz (Werder, Germany/Sportschule Potsdam Friedrich Ludwig Jahn) has four, picking up three last week. In net, graduate
Katie Sullivan (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton North HS/Creighton) has played every minute this season and has made 57 saves in 14 games.
ASUN Honors
Four Eagles have picked up ASUN weekly honors with Lillback earning Player of the Week on two occasions (Aug. 30, Sept. 27).
Katie Sullivan also earned ASUN Goalkeeper of the Week on September 6 after shutting out FAU in the Eagles' 1-0 victory over the Owls. The most recent were Labbe and Scarpelli who earned Player and Defensive Player of the Week on October 11.
National Recognition
In addition to their ASUN honors, Scarpelli and Labbe have also earned spots on the Top Drawer Soccer Team of the Week. Labbe earned a spot the same week she took home the ASUN while Scarpelli was recognized on September 27 after collecting three assists and playing strong defense in two games.
Approaching 100
The Eagles picked up their 99th ASUN win in just their 16th season against the Bisons on Thursday, all of which have been under the leadership of the only head coach in program history,
Jim Blankenship. The only other current ASUN school that has gone over the century mark is Jacksonville, who has 106, albeit in nine more seasons than FGCU.
Lillback on the Rise
Most Career Goals
| 1. |
66 |
Tabby Tindell |
2013-16 |
| 2 |
33 |
Louise Lillback |
2019-present |
| 3. |
28 |
Shannen Wacker |
2011-14 |
| 4. |
25 |
Evdokia Popadinova |
2018-19 |
| 5. |
24 |
Amber McCall |
2007-09 |
Most Career Points
| 1. |
162 |
Tabby Tindell |
2013-16 |
| 2. |
83 |
Shannen Wacker |
2011-14 |
| 3. |
73 |
Louise Lillback |
2019-present |
| 4. |
68 |
Lindsey Haw |
2007-10 |
| 5. |
67 |
Marjorie Boilesen |
2017-19 |
| 6. |
66 |
Paulina Speckmaier |
2013-16 |
| 7. |
59 |
Evdokia Popadinova |
2018-19 |
| 8. |
57 |
Amber McCall |
2007-09 |
| 9. |
53 |
Ally Kasun |
2012-15 |
| 10. |
44 |
Gina Petracco |
2008-11 |
Scouting the Competition
Stetson enters Wednesday's match with a 6-9-1 overall record and 3-4-1 mark in ASUN play. They are currently sitting in the 8th and final spot for the ASUN tournament, two points ahead of Jacksonville, North Alabama, and Queens.
The Hatters have had a balanced attack on offense this year as 14 players have scored a goal with Maggie Struble leading the way with three. Between the pipes, Sarah Grimmett and Ashleigh Wise have split the time as each have just over 700 minutes played. Combined, the two of them have maded 92 saves and have .754 save percentage.
Season Outlook
The Eagles return just nine players from last year's squad that won the ASUN East Division, but that includes ASUN Preseason Player of the Year
Lillback as well as ASUN All-Preseason members
Scarpelli and
Labbe. FGCU adds 19 newcomers, a mixture of freshman and transfers, to the 2022 sqaud that was picked second in the ASUN preseason poll.
Lillback is the reigning ASUN Player of the Year after scoring 12 goals last season, including a conference-high 11 in ASUN competition. Scarpelli returns to anchor the back line after helping the Eagles to seven shutouts a year ago while also adding a team-high three assists. Labbe returns to her spot on the outside after being named All-ASUN First Team despite playing just 13 games before suffering a season-ending injury.
In goal,
Sullivan returns for her second season with the Eagles after starting 15 games in 2021. In nine conference games, she allowed just five goals while making 26 saves with an .839 save percentage.
New Faces
Among the influx of new players include graduate transfers
Libby Helverson (Drake) and
Margaret Berry (Boston). Helverson was named to the Midwest All-Region Third Team as well as the Missouri Valley Conference First-Team after a standout season with the Bulldogs in the midfield while Berry brings a wealth of experience after playing on the back line for the Terriers for four seasons. The Eagles will also rely on some of the 11 true freshmen, which includes local product
Kendal Gargiula (Bishop Verot).
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 192-74-28 (.698) overall record through the first 16 seasons of the program's existence, including an 99-20-15 (.791) mark in the ASUN. Blankenship's impressive career record of 432-145-39 (.732) over 32 seasons has come while leading FGCU, the University of Miami, Lynn University and St. Thomas University.
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#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.
