FORT MYERS, Fla. – Sean Donahue, who spent the last four seasons with UNCW, has been named assistant coach of the FGCU Women's Soccer program as announced by head coach Jim Blankenship.

"I am excited to have Sean joins us," said Blankenship. "His knowledge and experience from a successful Division I program allows us to continue to better our team, goalkeepers and program. Happy to welcome him to our FGCU family."

Donahue was an assistant coach with the Seahawks from 2018-21 where he worked closely with the goalkeepers, a role he will continue with at FGCU.

In his time in Wilmington, the Seahawks qualified for the Colonial Athletic Association tournament in each of the last three seasons, including a berth in the 2021 championship game. UNCW also authored a 37-19-3 record during Donahue's time, including the 2021 CAA regular-season title.

In addition, Donahue worked with the CAA's Goalkeeper of the Year in two of the last three seasons. After Sydney Schneider won the inaugural award in 2019, Blair Barefoot was named the league's top netminder following the spring 2021 campaign. This past fall, he worked with Kaylie Bierman who was top 50 in the nation in goals allowed per game at 0.82 while also being 20th in the NCAA with a .845 save percentage.

While living in North Carolina, he was also the assistant goalkeeping director for the Wilmington Hammerheads ECNL club from 2018-22.

Before his time with the Seahawks, Donahue spent two years with fellow ASUN Jacksonville State from 2016-18 as a graduate assistant, while the Gamecocks were in the OVC. While at JSU, he worked with Caroline Robinson, helping to turn her into one of the top goalkeepers in the Ohio Valley Conference.

Donahue is a 2016 graduate of the University of Alabama and earned his Bachelor of Science Degree in physics and mathematics as a National Merit Scholar.

A native of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, he was a three-year starter at West Forsyth High School, Donahue earned All-Conference and All-Region distinction three times and was an honorable mention All-State selection in 2011. He was also a product of the North Carolina Fusion, one of the top clubs in the state.

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.

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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 184-69-27 (.705) overall record through the first 15 seasons of the program's existence, including an 93-19-15 (.791) mark in the ASUN. Blankenship's impressive career record of 424-140-38 (.736) over 31 seasons has come while leading FGCU, the University of Miami, Lynn University and St. Thomas University.
 
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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 87 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 14+ seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just nine seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 43 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. Eight FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport - including women's basketball (No. 25, 2021-22), beach volleyball (No. 20, 2021) and both men's soccer (2018, 2019) and women's soccer (2018) as three 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 24 consecutive semesters. The 2019 Fall, 2020 Spring, 2020 Fall, and 2021 Spring semesters each saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher team GPA in each. 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.