FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU women's soccer team pulled out a 3-2 overtime victory against Central Arkansas, Sunday in the ASUN semifinals. Freshman Erika Zschuppe (Kirtland, Ohio) scored in the 106^th minute as the Eagles secured a spot in the ASUN title match for the first time since 2017.  The Green and Blue, the #2 seed, will face the #1 seed Liberty Flames, Friday at 7 p.m. in Lynchburg, Virginia.

"We experienced a roller coaster of emotions today," said head coach Jim Blankenship. "UCA did a phenomenal job and it showed a lot of character in their team that they responded each time we scored. I loved the way our ladies responded as well with three amazing goals. We've been resilient all year and we're incredibly happy to be moving on."

All five goals of the game came after halftime beginning with freshman Marla Gaudlitz (Werder, Germany) scoring on a header off a perfect corner in the 56^th minute from Louise Lillback (Stockholm, Sweden), who took over corner kick duties today for the first time in her four-year career.

The Eagle lead only lasted eight minutes, however, as UCA's Anna Kerr scored on a breakaway goal in the 64^th minute.

Malaya Melancon (Naples, Fla.) nearly gave the Eagles the lead back in the 80^th minute, but her shot hit the crossbar.

In the 84^th minute, the Eagles earned their fifth corner kick of the match. With Lillback taking the corner, she sent the ball into the box and after bouncing around, it found the foot of Leah Scarpelli (Brick, N.J.), who slotted it past the diving keeper into the lower-left corner of the net.

The jubilation was short-lived as the Bears answered once again less than two minutes later, taking advantage of miscommunication between the Eagle defense and goalkeeper Katie Sullivan (Wheaton, Ill.)

In the first overtime period, Grace Paradis (Kingston, N.H.) had the best chance for the Eagles, but her shot was saved by UCA keeper Keyla Perez.

With the score still even at two, the game headed to the second overtime period where Zshuppe played hero. After receiving the ball from Paradis, she made a couple of moves before firing a shot from just inside the 18-yard box, placing it in the upper left corner of the net, nothing Perez could do about it.

Having the lead for the third time in the contest, the Eagles made it stick this time. The Bears had one last chance as they earned a corner with under a minute to go, but FGCU cleared the ball away to secure the victory.

The Eagles head to Lynchburg looking for its seventh tournament championship, but first since 2017. FGCU will also be looking for revenge as the Flames handed the Eagles their only conference loss this season, a 2-0 result at Osborne Stadium back on Sept. 18.

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 196-74-28 (.704) overall record through the first 16 seasons of the program's existence, including an 101-20-16 (.799) mark in the ASUN. Blankenship's impressive career record of 436-145-39 (.735) 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.