TAMPA, Fla. – The FGCU women’s soccer team hit the road for the first time this season to face a tough South Florida team. Despite a strong second-half effort, the Eagles fell to the Bulls, 3-1, in a game that ended just before 11 o’clock because of a two and a half hour rain delay.
“We got off to a slow start in this game, but I thought we played better in the second half,” said the head coach Jim Blankenship. “We’ll try to use what we did in the second half to build on for the next game and the rest of the season.”
Junior Louise Lillback (Stockholm, Sweden/Tibble Gymnasium) found the back of the net for the Eagles, her first of the season and 27th of her career. Sophomore Ashley Labbe (Lake Worth, Fla./Suncoast HS) picked up the assist on the play, her second of the season.
Overall, USF outshot the Eagles, 15-10, but FGCU had the advantage in shots on goal at 6-5. The Bulls also had a slight 4-3 advantage on corner kicks.
The game was scoreless for the first 15 minutes before the delay, but when the teams came back on the field, USF scored two goals in a five minute span to take a 2-0 lead in the 30th minutes. The Bulls possessed the ball for almost 70% of the first half, but the Eagles started to make a push late in the stanza.
Out of the break, the Eagles came out attacking and had a couple of shots on target before Lillback finally got the Eagles on the board in the 78th minute as Labbe stole the ball in the box and crossed it to Lillback who flicked it past the keeper.
The Eagles had their best chance to equalize in the 84thth minute as they earned a corner kick, but they could not do anything with it.
In the 87thth minute, USF converted on a corner kick to put the game on ice.
Most Career Goals
| 1. | 66 | Tabby Tindell | 2013-16 |
| 2. | 28 | Shannen Wacker | 2011-14 |
| 3. | 27 | Louise Lillback | 2019-Present |
| 4. | 25 | Evdokia Popadinova | 2018-19 |
| 5. | 24 | Amber McCall | 2007-09 |
Most Career Points
| 1. | 162 | Tabby Tindell | 2013-16 |
| 2. | 83 | Shannen Wacker | 2011-14 |
| 3. | 68 | Lindsey Haw | 2007-10 |
| 4. | 67 | Marjorie Boilesen | 2017-19 |
| 5. | 66 | Paulina Speckmaier | 2013-16 |
| 6. | 59 | Evdokia Popadinova | 2018-19 |
| 7. | 58 | Louise Lillback | 2019-present |
| 8. | 57 | Amber McCall | 2007-09 |
| 9. | 53 | Ally Kasun | 2012-15 |
| 10. | 44 | Gina Petracco | 2008-11 |
FGCU will be back in action on Thursday when they host Southern University. Kickoff from Pickering Field is set for 7 pm
For complete coverage of FGCU women’s soccer, follow the Eagles on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook at @FGCU_WSoccer and online at www.FGCUAthletics.com. You can also sign up to have news on FGCU women’s soccer or other programs delivered directly to your inbox by visiting www.fgcuathletics.com/email.
EAGLE CAMPAIGN
IT TAKES A TEAM to achieve our newest goal – a $10 million campaign to address student-athlete needs in continued academic success, life skills, mental health, nutrition, and strength and conditioning as well as departmental needs in facility expansion and improvement as well as mentoring and leadership training for coaches and staff. The name embodies our mission and the purpose of the EAGLE Campaign – Eagle Athletics Generating Lifetime Excellence. Join our team and pledge your gift today to help the Eagles of tomorrow!
COACH JIM BLANKENSHIP
A veteran of over two decades in collegiate coaching, head coach Jim Blankenship, who was named the ASUN Coach of the Year in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2019, has built FGCU women’s soccer into an annual contender in the ASUN Conference and a rising program in the South Region in just 13 seasons. Blankenship started the program in 2007 and has since guided the Eagles to 13 double-digit win seasons, culminating with ASUN Regular Season Championships in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2019. In 2011 and 2012 he also led the Eagles to back-to-back ASUN Tournament titles as they became the first team in the history of the university to make it to the NCAA Tournament. The Eagles went on to win the 2014 ASUN Tournament and hosted the first NCAA Championship event on campus. The Eagles earned their fourth NCAA Tournament appearance with the 2015 ASUN Tournament Championship and won their first NCAA game at USF in 2015 while finishing 24th in the nation. In 2016, the Eagles made it three-consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament with a third-straight ASUN Tournament title. A year later, the Eagles became the first ASUN women’s soccer program to make four-straight NCAA Tournaments with another tournament title in 2017. Blankenship has guided FGCU to a 184-71-27 (.705) overall record through the first 15 seasons of the program’s existence, including a 93-19-15 (.791) mark in the ASUN. Blankenship’s impressive career record of 424-142-38 (.736) over 31 seasons has come while leading FGCU, the University of Miami, Lynn University and St. Thomas University.
EAGLE CAMPAIGN
IT TAKES A TEAM to achieve our newest goal – a $10 million campaign to address student-athlete needs in continued academic success, life skills, mental health, nutrition, and strength and conditioning as well as departmental needs in facility expansion and improvement as well as mentoring and leadership training for coaches and staff. The name embodies our mission and the purpose of the EAGLE Campaign – Eagle Athletics Generating Lifetime Excellence. Join our team and pledge your gift today to help the Eagles of tomorrow!
#FEEDFGCU
FGCU Athletics sponsors events in November and April to benefit the FGCU Campus Food Pantry (www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry) and the Harry Chapin Food Bank (www.harrychapinfoodbank.org), FGCU Athletics’ charities of choice. For more information, including how to make a contribution, please visit www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and use the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.
ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 92 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 15 seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just 11 seasons of DI postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 45 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. In 2022, the men’s golf team became the first program to earn an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament. Eight FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sports – including women’s basketball (No. 20, 2021-22), beach volleyball (No. 20, 2022) and both men’s soccer (2018, 2019) and women’s soccer (2018) as four of the most recent. In 2016-17, the Green and Blue posted a department-best sixth-place finish in the DI-AAA Learfield Directors’ Cup and top-100 showing nationally, ahead of several Power-5 and FBS institutions. In 2018-19, the Eagles had an ASUN and state of Florida best seven teams earn the NCAA’s Public Recognition Award for their Academic Progress Rate in their sport. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.50 GPA in the classroom in the fall 2020 semester and has outperformed the general university undergraduate population for 26 consecutive semesters. The past five semesters (Fall 2019 – Spring 2022) saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher cumulative team GPA. The Eagles also served an all-time high 7,200 volunteer hours in 2017 – being recognized as one of two runners-up for the inaugural NACDA Community Service Award presented by the Fiesta Bowl.