FORT MYERS, Fla. – Florida Gulf Coast women's soccer head coach Jim Blankenship announced the signing of five players in the 2026 transfer portal on Monday.

"I'm excited to add an outstanding group to our team," Blankenship said. "They will immediately impact our team and continue to build on our success."

Taylor Latini | 5'6 | Midfielder | Junior | Carrollwood Day School | Florida Premier | Lehigh | New Port Richey, Fla.
Latini comes to FGCU from Lehigh. The New Port Richey, Fla., native tallied a pair of goals and assists for the Mountain Hawks in 2025, starting 16 of the 17 games she played in. As a freshman, she recorded one assist in 16 games played.

Latini played club for coach Leo Martini at Florida Premier, and played at Carrollwood Day School for coach Carli Mianne. She was in the National Honor Society, the Business Honor Society, and was on the student athlete leadership council. 

The daughter of Tera and Michael Latini, she has three siblings, Kate, Avery and Harper. Her sister, Kate, plays soccer at Campbell.

Avery White | 5'1 | Midfielder/Forward | R-Sophomore | Massaponax HS | Virginia Development Academy ECNL | James Madison | Fredericksburg, Va.
White comes to FGCU from James Madison. As a redshirt freshman, she played 11 matches and made one start for the Dukes. She totaled one goal and two assists for four points on the season. She scored her first collegiate goal at Texas State (Oct. 29) and tallied assists against George Mason (Aug. 28) and Marshall (Oct. 2). She logged a career high 31 minutes at Texas State.

She missed her freshman season due to injury, but was named to the JMU Presidents List (Spring 2025), the 2024-2025 Sun Belt Conference Commissioners List, and the Dean's List (Fall 2024).

Prior to JMU, she played four years at Massaponax HS for coach Tim Fetner. As a senior, she ranked 17th in TopDrawer Mid-Atlantic Region and 167th nationally, and was recognized as a ECNL Girls Mid-Atlantic Player to Watch and as a U17 Girls Playoffs Player to Know. As a junior, she reached the ECNL Mid-Atlantic Conference Championship. White ranked 16th in TopDrawer Mid-Atlantic Region and 165th nationally, and was recognized as a committed 2024 that impressed at ECNL New Jersey. She played club for coach Matt Lacey at Virginia Development Academy ECNL.

As a sophomore, she was named as one of InStats Top Players in the Southeast Region for 2022, ranked in the Top 50 ECNL players in the InStat Sport Index for Fall 2021 season (reported by SoccerWire). Her club won the ECNL Mid-Atlantic Conference Championship (2021-2022). She collected US Soccer Youth National Team Identification Center, Tennessee ECNL Best XI, All-Area First Team, All-Commonwealth District First Team, and All-Region Second Team honors.

As a freshman, White was named to the ECNL Mid-Atlantic All Conference First Team (2020-2021), ECNL Mid-Atlantic Conference Champions (2020-2021. She garnered invites to US Soccer Eastern Mini Camp in Bradenton, Fla. (postponed due to COVID-19) and the US Soccer Youth National Team Identification Center.

The daughter of Kristen and Raymond White, she has three siblings, Rylie, Abi and Kalyn.

Reese Dunaway | 5'5 | Defender | Senior | Mars HS | Beadling FC | St. John's | Pittsburgh, Pa.
Dunaway comes to FGCU from St. John's. The Pittsburgh, Pa., native, played in 13 games for the Red Storm in 2025 and started seven, the latter of which all came in Big East play. As a sophomore, she started all 18 games and played 1,274 minutes on the back line. As a freshman, she appeared in three matches for St. John's, making her collegiate debut at Colgate.

Prior to St. John's, Dunaway was a four-year varsity player at Mars Area High School for coach Blair Gerlach. She lettered in soccer all four years of her high school career and participated in three undefeated seasons of high school soccer from 2019-21. Dunaway was named All-Section in 2021 and 2022, was a 2022 All-Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL) List Selection and won three state and WPIAL championships in 2019, 2020 and 2021. She also played for Beadling Soccer Club and coach JR Little.

The daughter of Matthew Dunaway and Gina Delano, Dunaway has two siblings, Gracie and Smyth Dunaway. Her dad, Matthew, played football at the US Naval Academy, and her sister, Gracie, played soccer at Purdue.

Niobé Louis | 5'9 | Defender | Jean Monnet Strasbourg HS | FC Basel | Jacksonville State | Brunstatt, France
Louis comes to FGCU from Jacksonville State. The Brunstatt, France, native, spent two years at Jacksonville State, where she recorded 14 starts and 987 minutes played as a sophomore on the Gamecocks back line. As a freshman, she tallied two assists over 544 minutes played, earning a student-athlete of the week honor.  

Louis played club at FC Basel for coach Gianni Castellano, and played for coaches Stéphanie Trognon and Edson Siasia.

The daughter of Michaël Louis and Aurore Philipp, Louis has two siblings, Jolan and Maya.

Ryleigh Acosta | 5'3 | Forward/Midfielder | Junior | Mariner HS | FC Prime ECNL | Florida | Cape Coral, Fla.
Acosta comes to FGCU from Florida. The Cape Coral native spent two years in Gainesville with the Gators, registering a career high 49 minutes played against Towson in 2025. She appeared in 19 total matches, and was named to the Southeastern Conference First-Year Academic Honor Roll as a freshman.

Prior to her time at Florida, Acosta made the ECNL Playoffs twice with coach Alan Hough at FC Prime ECNL. She spent three years on the ODP State Team, one year on the ODP Regional Team, one year in the ID2 National Training Camp and attended the 2019 U.S. Soccer Olympic Development national camp in Chula Vista, Calif.

In high school, Acosta earned a bevy of statewide awards and honors while playing for coach Jami Hagy at Mariner HS, including 2024 Florida Dairy Farmers Miss Soccer,  2023-24 United Soccer Coaches Winter/Spring High School All-American, 2022-23 United Soccer Coaches Winter/Spring High School All-American, 2023 and 2024 Dairy Farmers Class 5A Player of the Year; and 2024, 2023 and 2022 Florida Athletic Coaches Association All-State. Locally, she was named the 2022, 2023 and 2024 Southwest Florida Sports Award winner for girls soccer by News-Press and Naples Daily News. She also made the 2024 Southwest Florida All-Region soccer team after 26 goals and 29 assists, the 2023 SWFL All-Region soccer team after 25 goals and 21 assists, the 2022 SWFL All-Region soccer team after 26 goals and 26 assists and the 2021 SWFL All-Region soccer team after 18 goals and 16 assists.

Acosta and Mariner HS won the 2022 5A Florida High School Athletic Association State title – the first in any sport for the Tritons. They lost 4-2 in penalty kicks in the 2023 5A final, advanced to the 2021 FHSAA Class 4A Region 3 semifinal and the 2024 Class 5A regional final.

Acosta was named three-time FACA Academic All-State and a three-time Mariner H.S. varsity captain. She was the side's Most Valuable Player as freshman, sophomore, junior and senior.

For more information on FGCU women's soccer, follow @FGCU_WSoccer on Instagram, X (Twitter) and Facebook, and visit fgcuathletics.com.