JACKSONVILLE, Fla.- It wasn't always pretty, but the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles picked up three big ASUN points with a 1-0 road win over Jacksonville Thursday night at Southern Oak Stadium in their first of two games this weekend in the River City.
"Massive result on the road for us tonight" FGCU head coach
Jim Blankenship said. "Our bench provided a ton of energy all night long, probably the best they have been all year, Madara made a pair of phenomenal saves to keep us in it early in the second half, and then Lily finding Lexie for the goal late was huge. Really proud of our guys tonight."
Whistles effected the flow of the game in the first half as FGCU managed the game's only three shots in the first 45 minutes, getting just one on goal in a scoreless first half.
The Eagles drew a foul deep in the attacking third in the 14
th minute, but their free shot from just outside the box sailed high and off target to keep the game scoreless without anything on net. There were as many cards handed out as shots in the first half in a physical battle with the Dolphins only real chance cut out in the 41
st minute by
Sarah Greiner with a header to escape danger.
There were 16 first half fouls, nine on the Eagles and seven on the Dolphins while each side was assessed a pair of yellow cards. FGCU had three shots, one on goal, while Jacksonville didn't have a single effort struck at the Eagle net.
The Dolphins came out the aggressors early in the second half, getting two shots on the board in the first three minutes of the period, one a dangerous chance that sailed high of goal on a shot from inside the 18'.
Jacksonville continued to put pressure on the FGCU back line in the 61
st minute with two scoring chances back-to-back that Eagle keeper
Madara Bome turned away to keep the game scoreless.
Five minutes later the Eagles put together a run as
Lily Borders cut out a Dolphin pass at midfield and pushed up the pitch to get
Kaitlin Gabelman a chance, but the JU back line stood tall and kept FGCU off the scoreboard for the time being.
The Eagles didn't get their first shot of the second half off until the 77
th minute when
Sarah Greiner curled a corner towards the net, but the Dolphin keeper plucked it out of the air to keep it a 0-0 game with 13 minutes remaining.
FGCU finally broke through in the 79
th minute as Borders had a long throw in passed back to her from
Ava Russell for a service into the box and after bouncing past the Dolphin defense,
Lexie Bennett found it with her head and flicked it into the back of the net to put the Eagles in front 1-0.
With the win now in sight, the Eagles ratcheted things up defensively over the final 10 minutes, limiting the Dolphins to just one shot while burying the ball in their attacking third.
As the sun set, so did the Dolphins chances as the Eagles finished off a 1-0 win to hand Jacksonville their first defeat at home all season.
The Eagles managed just six shots in the win, a season low, putting only three shots on target.
Bome was huge in net for FGCU, making five saves for her fifth solo clean sheet this season.
Bennett netted the Eagles lone goal, her third of the year while Russell picked up her third assist of the season and Borders notched her second of the year on the tally.
The Eagles win their fifth straight to improve to 9-1-5 overall while remaining unbeaten in ASUN action at 6-0-2. FGCU inches closer to their 13
th ASUN Regular Season Championship in program history as they currently sit with 20 points with two games left to go, four points ahead of second place North Florida, their opponent next time out Sunday.
Jacksonville loses for the third time in four outings, falling to 5-6-4 overall and 3-3-2 in ASUN play where they now sit in a heap of teams tied with 11 points in the middle of the conference standings.
The Eagles will have two days off before taking the field again on Sunday in Jacksonville against North Florida with a chance to clinch the ASUN Regular Season Championship. The Eagles and Ospreys will kick off at 1 p.m. in the penultimate game of the 2026 regular season.
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