FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU women's soccer team landed four student-athletes on the 2022 United Soccer Coaches Scholar All-South Region teams. Juniors Leah Scarpelli (Brick, N.J./Brick Memorial/Penn State) and Louise Lillback (Stockholm, Sweden/Tibble Gymnasium) and sophomore Ashley Labbe (Lake Worth, Fla./Suncoast HS) were all named to the second team, while graduate student Katie Sullivan (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton North HS/Creighton) picked up a third-team selection.
 
Lillback (2020, 2021) and Labbe (2020, 2021) secured their third career Scholar All-Region honors, while Scarpelli and Sullivan picked up their second and first Scholar All-Region nods, respectively. The FGCU women's soccer program also extended its streak to 13 consecutive years with representatives on the Scholar All-Region list and now have 37 total United Soccer Coaches Scholar All-South Region selections.
 
To be eligible for selection, candidates must be a at least a junior in academic standing and have a cumulative GPA of 3.40 for their career. Players must also have played in at least 75 percent of the season's games, contributed significantly to the team's success and be an elite player as evidenced by athletic accolades for the season.
 
Of the 42 Division I women's soccer programs represented on the 2022 Scholar All-Region list, only FGCU and Michigan State had at least four honorees.
 
"We are very happy for these four ladies," head coach Jim Blankenship said. "It is awesome that they are being recognized for not only their hard work on the field, but also their hard work in the classroom."

Scarpelli, the 2022 ASUN Defensive Player of the Year and a 2022 College Soccer News All-American, helped anchor the FGCU defense as she shut down some of the nation's best players all season long. The Integrated Studies major with a 3.93 GPA, also contributed on the offensive end with five goals and a team-leading team six assists.

Lillback, recently named to TopDrawerSoccer's Top 100 National Rankings (No. 84), added another tremendous season to her resume in 2022, leading FGCU with a team-best 21 points and team-high eight goals. A Communications major with a 3.58 GPA, she has scored 34 career goals for the Green & Blue, second-most all-time, while registering the third-highest points total with 77.
 
After a season-ending injury ended her 2021 campaign, Labbe returned to the field and turned in her best season with the Eagles, collecting 16 points on six goals and four assists and securing an All-ASUN First-Team selection. Labbe, who carries a 3.65 GPA and majors in Health Science, was the lone Eagle with multiple multiple-goal games, netting a pair of goals against both Southern (Aug. 25) and Bellarmine (Oct. 9).

Sullivan, who graduated last weekend with her Master's in Information Systems and Analytics, closed her collegiate career with a tremendous season as she played every minute of every game in goal for the Eagles. An All-ASUN Third-Team selection, Sullivan posted eight clean sheets and allowed just six goals in 10 ASUN games. She made 80 saves in 2022, third-highest total on the FGCU single-season chart, but will be best known for her heroics in the 2022 ASUN Championship. Sullivan made a save in the fifth round of penalties in the title game at Liberty to send FGCU to the NCAA Tournament for the seventh time in program history.
 
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, 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. The program's first coach, he has guided the Eagles to double-digit wins 15 times, from its first season in 2007 through the 12-win 2022 campaign, with the exception of the COVID-shortened 2020 season. The Eagles have claimed nine ASUN Regular Season Championships (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2019) and Blankenship and the 2011 women's soccer team made history as the first FGCU program to compete in an NCAA Division I postseason tournament. Additional ASUN championships and postseason appearances followed as the Eagles went to the NCAA Tournament again in 2012 for their first back-to-back trips, and hosted the first NCAA Championship event on campus in 2014 after winning the 2014 ASUN Tournament. Following the 2015 ASUN Tournament Championship, the program earned its first NCAA Tournament win, a landmark victory at USF, further distinguishing the Eagles' fourth NCAA berth. FGCU finished that season ranked 24^th in the final national poll. Blankenship's foundations of excellence produced four-straight ASUN Tournament titles (2014, 2015, 2016, 2017) as FGCU became the first ASUN women's soccer program to make four consecutive NCAA Tournaments. In 2022, the Eagles' inspirational path to the NCAA Tournament included exceptional performances in the ASUN Championship title game to claim their seventh ASUN Tournament Championship. Blankenship has guided FGCU to a 196-75-30 (.701) overall record, including a 101-20-16 (.799) mark in the ASUN. As he closes in on 200 wins at FGCU, Blankenship owns an impressive career record of 436-146-41 (.733) over 32 seasons combined at 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 93 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.