FORT MYERS, Fla. - The Florida Gulf Coast University women's soccer team earned a 5-0 victory over Jacksonville at Pickering Field on Thursday, improving its record to 6-4-1 overall and 3-1 in the Atlantic Sun Conference. With the victory, the Eagles moved into first place in the ASUN's Graphite Division, holding the head-to-head tiebreaker over Jacksonville despite both having nine points.
FGCU scored on the first shot of the match in the fourth minute. Sophomore
Lily Borders' right-footed strike into the top of the net gave the Eagles a 1-0 lead. It was the forward's first goal with FGCU. Borders scored twice as a freshman at Auburn last season. Fellow sophomore transfer
Kate Friday provided the assist, her first of two against the Dolphins.
Jacksonville responded quickly, putting a shot on FGCU's net less than 30 seconds after Borders' goal, but keeper
Madara Matrevica made the save, her first of a career-high seven on the match. Matrevica made five saves in the first half alone, the second-most in a single period of her freshman season. Matrevica posted six stops in the first half against Auburn on Sept. 7.
FGCU's
Megan Morgan placed two shots on goal in quick succession, one in the 14th and the other in the 17th minute but could not add to the Eagles' lead. Morgan did, however, provide the assist on
Erika Zschuppe's team-high ninth goal of the season in the 22nd minute to extend FGCU's advantage to 2-0. Morgan tallied a career-high three assists in the match after having two across the first 10 contests of the season. The Eagles took a 2-0 lead into halftime despite being outshot 8-5 by the Dolphins in the first period.
The Green and Blue's offense came out firing in the second half. Zschuppe had each of the first four shots of the frame. The fourth provided the Atlantic Sun Preseason Player and Midfielder of the Year with her second goal of the night and 10th of the season. With her second consecutive brace, Zschuppe reached 35 career goals, which surpassed Louise Lillback (2019-22) for second place on FGCU's all-time list. Zschuppe's four points gave her 86 for her career, which brought her past Shannen Wacker (2011-14) for second-most in program history. Tabby Tindell (2013-16) leads in both categories with 66 goals and 162 points.
The Eagles were not content with a 3-0 lead. Just over four minutes later, senior
Kendal Gargiula netted her fourth goal of the year to make it 4-0 and added her fifth tally of the campaign two minutes and 20 seconds later to give FGCU a 5-0 advantage. Morgan notched assists on both goals and
Ryanne Robinson was also credited with a helper on Gargiula's second goal, the second of the freshman's career.
With her three assists against the Dolphins, Morgan took the team lead with five this season. Friday's two assists brought the sophomore to four on the campaign, the Eagles' second-highest total.
FGCU had its most efficient offensive match of the year, scoring five goals on just 13 shots and 11 shots on goal. Jacksonville posted 11 total tries and put seven on net, but Matrevica stopped each one. The Eagles' five total goals and five goal winning margin were the team's highest in ASUN play and second highest overall this season, trailing FGCU's 6-0 victory over Webber International on Aug. 17.
Florida Gulf Coast (6-4-1, 3-1 ASUN) returns to the pitch on Sunday at 1 p.m. against North Florida at Pickering Field. The Eagles are 17-3-1 in 21 all-time matchups with the Ospreys.
