JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The Florida Gulf Coast University women's soccer team played to a 1-1 draw against Jacksonville on Sunday afternoon, moving its overall record to 8-4-2 and its Atlantic Sun Conference mark to 5-1-1. The Eagles and Dolphins remain tied atop the ASUN's Graphite Division with identical records and boasting 16 points apiece, but FGCU controls its own destiny by virtue of a 5-0 victory over Jacksonville on Oct. 2, giving the Eagles the tiebreaker over the Dolphins.
FGCU's
Lily Borders had the first shot on goal of the match, which came in the second minute. In the two sqauds' first matchup this season, Borders scored the opening tally in the fourth minute but could not replicate her early success this time, as her shot was saved by Jacksonville's Pia Bozic.
In the ninth minute, FGCU goalkeeper
Madara Matrevica was called on to make her first save of the contest. The freshman posted a career-high seven saves against Jacksonville on Oct. 2 while not allowing a goal. The Latvian international recorded her second save of the match in the 25th minute after both teams went nearly 17 minutes without a shot on goal.
The Dolphins broke through at the 33-minute mark. Layla Garcia-Moreno found the top left corner of the net to give Jacksonville a 1-0 lead, its first goal in 123 minutes against FGCU this year. Garcia-Moreno's score meant that the Eagles would not extend their clean sheet streak to five matches and was the first goal the Green and Blue had allowed since the sixth minute against Queens on Sept. 25. FGCU had held opponents scoreless for its previous 477 minutes and 16 seconds of match time.
Jacksonville took that 1-0 advantage into halftime after notching eight shots and three on goal in the opening period. FGCU managed just two shots and one on goal, Borders' early strike that was kept out of the net by Bozic.
The Eagles tied the score just over three minutes into the second half.
Erika Zschuppe, the ASUN Preseason Player and Midfielder of the year, netted her Division I-leading 17th goal of the season and extended her nation-best points mark to 34. It was Zschuppe's seventh consecutive match with a goal, the longest streak in the country, in which she has scored 13 times. The senior's 17 goals and 34 assists are both career-best marks for the two-time First Team All-ASUN performer. This score gave Zschuppe 42 career goals and 100 points, both second-most in FGCU history. Tabby Tindell (2013-16) was the first Eagle to reach the century mark in points and holds the program records with 66 goals and 162 points.
Maya Henley Buisan provided the assist on Zschuppe's goal, the junior's sixth of the season which put her in sole possession of first place on the team and tied her career high, which Henley Buisan set last year on her way to a Third Team All-ASUN selection.
Bozic recorded her only save of the second half in the 54th minute on a
Ryanne Robinson shot. The Dolphins did not put a try on net until the 79th minute, when Matrevica made her third save of the match. The freshman was needed once more in the 88th minute, and Matrevica was up to the task, notching her fourth and final save and sealing a 1-1 draw.
Jacksonville finished with 16 shots, five of which were on goal, and seven corner kicks. FGCU recorded nine shots, three on net, and three corners. Despite trailing in those statistics and facing a halftime deficit, the Eagles managed to salvage a draw, their first in ASUN play this year, and extend their unbeaten streak to five matches.
FGCU retakes the pitch on Thursday when it hosts West Georgia at 7 p.m. at Pickering Field. The Eagles downed the Wolves 4-0 in on Sept. 28 and have outscored West Georgia 9-0 in two all-time matchups.
