FORT MYERS, Fla. – The Florida Gulf Coast Eagles couldn't have asked for a much better start to ASUN play on Thursday at Pickering Field in Fort Myers as FGCU outshot the visiting Queens Royals 29-1 in route to a dominating 3-0 win to take an early lead atop the conference table.
"I thought our pressure was phenomenal tonight, really proud of the way we came out ready to go right off the bat after 12 days off" FGCU head coach
Jim Blankenship said. "This is a great way to start conference play, now we need to refocus and be ready for another quality opponent at home on Sunday."
It didn't take long for the Eagles to grab complete control of the tempo as they cut out a Queens pass right off the bat and stormed towards goal where a cross from
Taylor Latini found the foot of
Keira Morgan for a shot on goal just 33 seconds into the contest.
Morgan's shot was saved, but just two minutes later, the Eagles were on the attack again, this time Morgan finding
Kate Friday 25 yards out for a strike towards goal that found the back of the net to put FGCU in front 1-0 less than three minutes in.
The Eagles press continued to give the Royals fits and a forced turnover in the 8
th minute put the ball on the foot of
Kaitlin Gabelman who launched a shot off of her left boot that whistled past the Queens keeper to double FGCU's lead to 2-0.
The field continued to tilt towards the Eagles' attacking third the rest of the half with
Avery White creating a chance for Riley Acosta in the 14
th minute and Acosta doing the same for Latini in the 29th, but both attempts were stopped by a busy Queens keeper to keep it a 2-0 game heading into the half.
It was all FGCU through the first 45 with the Eagles holding a 15-0 advantage in shots in the first half while FGCU earned all four of the corners in the period.
It looked like the Eagles had found another goal just as the second half got underway as
Hanna Phillips put one in the back of the Royals net four minutes in, but it was called back due to a foul in the box and it remained a 2-0 contest.
Ryanne Robinson made an effort to get in on the scoring, drilling a shot off the crossbar from just outside the box in the 52
nd minute and the Eagles pressure continued to mount on the Queens defense until finally Latini found Morgan who broke through with a goal to the corner pocket to make it 3-0 FGCU in the 58
th minute.
The shot count was 20-0 in favor of the Eagles before Queens finally got off their first shot of the game in the 60
th minute, but
Madara Bome proved she was up to the task, making the save and keeping the Royals off the board.
Megan Morgan and
Ava Russell both came into the game and put quality strikes on goal in the 70
th minute, but both were saved to keep it a 3-0 game.
The Eagles continued to dominate the possession and the action over the final 20 minutes of the contest, finishing off a 3-0 win in style in their 2026 ASUN opener.
FGCU finished the game outshooting Queens 29-1, their largest margin since a +29 mark against Southern in 2022 and the widest gap against an ASUN opponent since a +29 against Jacksonville in 2019.
Gabelman's goal was her team leading fourth of the season while Friday and Morgan's tallies were their first of the year, giving FGCU 10 different goal scorers through their first eight games. Latini's assist on Morgan's 58
th minute goal extended her point streak to four straight while coincidentally enough tying Morgan atop the ASUN leaderboard with four assists on the year.
Bome played into the 82
nd minute with one save while
Danyelle Dorn came on to finish off the Eagles' eighth clean sheet in their last 11 regular season home games.
FGCU extends their unbeaten streak to six as they improve to 4-1-3 on the year while Queens drops to 1-7-1. Two of the four ASUN games on opening night resulted in draws so the Eagles jump out to an early lead in the league standings with Stetson after securing three points Thursday.
The Eagles next test comes against ASUN newcomer West Florida who will bring a 4-1-1 record to Pickering Field on Sunday for a 1 p.m. Kickoff. It will be Socctober Fest at the game with fans able to take advantage of a special deal that includes two tickets and two FGCU steins for just $25. Those can be purchased now at FGCUTickets.com.
For more information on FGCU women's soccer, follow @FGCU_WSoccer on
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fgcuathletics.com.
