FORT MYERS, Fla. – Florida Gulf Coast women's soccer closed its regular season slate with a 6-2 victory over Stetson at Pickering Field on Saturday.
FGCU improved its overall record to 11-4-2 and 8-1-1 in Atlantic Sun play. The Eagles clinched first place in the ASUN's Graphite Division with 25 points and finished the regular season with the best record in the entire ASUN. FGCU extended its unbeaten streak to eight matches, dating back to Sept. 25.
FGCU got on the board in the ninth minute when
Erika Zschuppe, the ASUN Preseason Player and Midfielder of the Year, scored her 20th goal of the year off a cross from
Kendal Gargiula. Zschuppe tied Tabby Tindell's (2013-16) program record for goals in a season, which Tindell set in 2014. Zschuppe extended her consecutive matches with a goal streak to 10, the longest in the country.
Zschuppe climbed into sole possession of the program's single-season goal record in the 25th minute when the two-time First Team All-ASUN selection scored her second tally of the contest and 21st of the season on another feed from Gargiula. Zschuppe's 21 goals and 44 points are both the most in Division I. She is the only player in the country with at least 20 goals and the only player with at least 40 points.
"I'm proud of her," head coach
Jim Blankenship said. "I don't know if anyone puts as much into the game as Erika. She's very, very focused on trying to be the best ... she wears it on her sleeve, she's got the biggest heart, she wants the best for the team. Her in front of the goal is just amazing ... she's having a year that's a program-changer."
Zschuppe's 44 points are tied with Tindell's mark from 2015 for second most in a season in FGCU history, trailing only Tindell's 48-point performance in 2014. Zschuppe's 46 career goals and 110 points are both second in program history, behind Tindell's 66 goals and 162 points.
Stetson took its first shot in the 30th minute, but FGCU goalkeeper
Madara Matrevica made her first save of the match on the only shot she faced in the opening half. Thirty seconds later, Gargiula scored her first goal of the evening after providing the helper on FGCU's first two.
Keira Morgan assisted Gargiula's tally, the freshman's third of the year. The Eagles outshot the Hatters 11-1 in the first period and went into halftime with a 3-0 lead.
Less than four minutes into the second frame, FGCU extended its advantage to 4-0. Junior
Maya Henley Buisan, whose six assists are tied for the team lead, notched her third goal of the year. Gargiula secured her third assist of the match, tying Henley Buisan and
Megan Morgan for the most on the team with six this season. Gargiula's three assists were a career-best mark and the third career multi-assist match of the senior's tenure in Fort Myers.
Stetson pulled back to within three with a 53rd minute score, but Gargiula answered in the 57th, securing her second goal of the contest, boosting her point total to a career-high seven in the match and giving the Eagles a 5-1 advantage. The senior lifted her season sums to nine goals, six assists and 24 points, all career highs for the two-time First Team All-ASUN selection.
Stetson drew closer with a goal in the 68th minute, but FGCU re-established its four-goal lead courtesy of
Sophia Holtzman in the 88th minute, the freshman's fourth goal of the season. Senior defender
Lauren Dwyer picked up the assist, the second of her career and first since September 2023.
In their 6-2 win, the Eagles outshot the Hatters 19-10 and scored on six of their 11 shots on goal. Six tallies tied FGCU's season high, equaling its totals against Webber International on Aug. 17, North Florida on Oct. 5 and West Georgia on Oct. 16.
FGCU returns to action on Oct. 30 in the ASUN Championship quarterfinal against Bellarmine at Pickering Field. The Eagles, winners of the ASUN's Graphite Division, will host the Knights, who finished fourth in the Gold Division.
