FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU women's soccer team has unveiled its 2022 schedule as the team prepares for another run at the ASUN Championship title. The Eagles, under the leadership of head coach Jim Blankenship, will play a challenging non-conference schedule before heading into league play.

The schedule features six games against Top-100 RPI teams from a year ago, including the defending national champion Florida State Seminoles. The Eagles will also play three teams in the ASUN that they have never matched up with before, first-year members Queens (N.C) and Austin Peay as well as Central Arkansas, who is in its second year.

"We are excited for the upcoming season," said Blankenship. "There is a lot of local flare in our non-conference schedule with some of the best teams in Florida. We have a lot of newcomers to our team and the tough schedule we face early will really help us prepare for the ASUN season as we look for another championship."

Before the regular-season kicks off, the Eagles will play two exhibition matches, the first being on the road at Miami on August 6^th before having a tune-up at home against Florida Tech on August 12^th.

The competition gets real on August 18^th when they open the season at home against Detroit Mercy before hitting the road for a Sunday evening matchup in Tampa against South Florida on August 21. The Bulls finished 32^nd in the RPI a season ago and made the NCAA Tournament for the fifth straight season.

The Eagles return home on August 25^th to take on the Jaguars of Southern University for the first time in program history before traveling up to Orlando on August 28 to face in-state rival UCF for the sixth time, but the first since 2016.

Following the Knights, it's three more games against in-state foes before the ASUN season begins with two games at home against FAU and FIU on September 4th and September 11^th sandwiched around a game on the road against Florida State, the defending national champions, on September 8^th.

The conference season gets started with two road contests for the Green and Blue as they travel to ASUN newcomer Queens on September 15^th before taking on Liberty in Lynchburg on September 18^th.

Returning home on September 22^nd, the Eagles will take on UNF before battling Jacksonville on the 25^th at Pickering Field.

The Eagles will then begin October with three games on the road – Stetson on the 2^nd, Eastern Kentucky on the 6^th, and Bellarmine on the 9^th – before concluding the regular season with three straight home contests. The final home stretch begins on October 13^th against defending ASUN champion Lipscomb before taking on Austin Peay on the 16^th. The regular-season finale will be on October 22 when the Eagles host Central Arkansas for Senior Day.

The ASUN Tournament gets kicked off on October 27^th at the campus of the higher seed.

The Eagles will have a lot of newcomers to the team this year, but return a talented core, led by reigning ASUN Player of the Year Louise Lillback. FGCU also returns All-ASUN selections Leah Scarpelli and Ashley Labbe as well as goalkeeper Katie Sullivan, who allowed just 0.49 goals per game last season against ASUN competition.

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.