DELAND, Fla. – For the 13
th time in program history, the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles raised the ASUN regular season trophy on Saturday, beating the Stetson Hatters 2-0 on the road in DeLand to secure the crown.
"Really proud of our guys" Eagles head coach
Jim Blankenship said. "We started the season with a list of goals and this is the first one we have had the opportunity to check off. Now we refocus and get ready to come back home for the tournament."
Needing a win to secure the conference championship, the Eagles came out swinging Saturday. Early pressure led to a chance in the box from
Taylor Latini in the 4
th minute and one minute later
Hanna Phillips cut out a Stetson run into the Eagles box to keep it scoreless early on.
FGCU broke through in the 20
th minute as
Keira Morgan collected a failed clear by the Hatters and curled a right footed shot into the upper 90 for her fourth of the season to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead.
The Eagles doubled their lead in the 32
nd minute when
Tessa Brooks found herself with the ball on her boot on the left post and she finished in the back of the net to make it 2-0 FGCU into the half.
The Eagles didn't sit back with the lead in the second half, getting a pair of shots from Keira and
Megan Morgan in the first four minutes as they looked to extend upon their lead.
FGCU continued to pepper the Stetson cage with
Sarah Greiner hitting the woodwork on a right footed strike from 25 yards out followed by an
Ava Boyd header off the crossbar moments later to keep it a 2-0 game.
Eagle keeper
Madara Bome stopped the only shot on goal she saw in the contest in the 80
th minute to keep her clean sheet intact and FGCU finished things off 10 minutes later to let the celebration begin.
Morgan's goal was her fourth of the year while Brooks' was her second of the campaign. Bome's shutout was her sixth of the season and third in the Eagles last four games to close out the regular season.
For the Eagles, it is their 13
th ASUN regular season title in program history and the 15
th time in 17 seasons FGCU has won either the regular season, or tournament title.
FGCU improves to 10-2-5 overall on the year, marking the 19
th consecutive complete season the Eagles have reached double digit wins. They close out ASUN action at 7-1-2, four points clear of the rest of the pack with 23. Stetson sees their campaign come to a close at 3-14-0 overall and 1-8-0 in ASUN play.
Next up for the Eagles is the postseason which will now run all the way through at Pickering Field in Fort Myers. FGCU will host a first-round matchup between Jacksonville and West Florida on Thursday, Nov. 5 and will play the winner of that contest on Sunday, Nov. 8 at 1 p.m. If the Eagles are able to win that game, they will host the ASUN Championship on Friday, Nov. 13 at Pickering Field. Tickets for all games are available now at
FGCUTickets.com.
You can find the complete ASUN Championships bracket
HERE.
For more information on FGCU women's soccer, follow @FGCU_WSoccer on
Instagram,
X (Twitter) and
Facebook, and visit
fgcuathletics.com.
