FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU women's soccer team closed out the regular season, Saturday evening, with a 2-0 victory over Central Arkansas at Pickering Field. With the win, the Eagles clinch the #2 seed in the upcoming ASUN Tournament and will host the first two rounds beginning on Thursday with the Eagles playing the #7 seed North Florida.

Tonight's win over the Bears puts the Eagle record at 10-5-1 and 8-1-1 in conference play. It is the 15^th time in 16 seasons that the Eagles have won double-digit games with the only exception being the COVID-shortened 2020 season.

"Tonight was typical of us with great pressure and relentless in the attack," said head coach Jim Blankenship. "It's a big win, knowing that we had to win to host. I felt that the players were very committed to that and scored a couple of great goals."

On a night that the Eagles honored their seniors, it was two freshman that produced for the Green and Blue as Marla Gaudlitz (Werder, Germany) and Erika Zschuppe (Kirtland, Ohio) each found the back of the net for the second time this season. Gaudlitz also added an assist as did freshman Kate Russell (Mill Creek, Wash.) and sophomore Katelyn Kauffman (Pittsburgh, Pa.).

The Eagles dominated the game with a 29-8 shot advantage including an 8-1 edge in shots on goal.

The game was scoreless for the first 20 minutes before Russell entered the game as a sub and made an immediate impact. After missing just wide with a shot, she went on a beautiful run with the ball before feeding Gaudlitz, who fired a shot into the back of the net in the 26^th minute to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead.

FGCU kept attacking in the second half looking for a second goal and hit the post a couple of times. Finally, in the 80^th minute, Zschuppe connected on her sixth shot of the night as she made a great move in the box before firing a shot with her left foot into the top corner of the net.

With the regular season in the books, the Eagles will now prepare for the ASUN Tournament. As the host of the first two rounds, the #2 Eagles will play #7 North Florida, Thursday at 7 p.m. Third-seeded Lipscomb and #6 Central Arkansas will play at 4 p.m. on Thursday at Pickering Field while the semifinals will be on Sunday at 2 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 16 seasons. Blankenship started the program in 2007 and has since guided the Eagles to double-digit win seasons every year except the COVID-shortened 2020 season, 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 194-74-28 (.698) overall record through the first 16 seasons of the program's existence, including an 101-20-16 (.791) mark in the ASUN. Blankenship's impressive career record of 434-145-39 (.732) 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.