next game:
at South Florida
8/21/2022 | 6 p.m
Aug. 21 (Sun) / 6 PM
South Florida
History
FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU women’s soccer team opened the 2022 campaign on Thursday night at Pickering Field, falling to Detroit Mercy, 2-1.
“We made a couple of mistakes defensively and it cost us,” said head coach Jim Blankenship. “We fought back, getting the goal from Kate [Russell] and came close a couple of times to tying it, but it just wasn’t our night.”
Freshman Kate Russell (Mill Creek, Wash./Henry M. Jackson HS) scored FGCU’s first goal of the season in the 57th minute to get the Eagles back in the game after falling behind by a couple of goals.
The Eagles outshot the Titans, 19-11, including a 7-5 advantage on shots on goal. They also had the edge in corner kicks, 9-3.
FGCU had the first chance of the game in the 10th minute when junior Louise Lillback (Stockholm, Sweden/Tibble Gymnasium) got ahead of the defense with the just the goalie to beat, but Marissa Silver was up to the task and made the save.
Detroit got on the board a couple of minutes later in the 12th minute, taking advantage of a defensive mistake by the Eagles. Sophia Blankenship got around Eagle goalkeeper graduate student Katie Sullivan (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton North HS/Creighton) and put a shot past graduate student Margaret Berry (Holly, Mich./Fenton HS/Boston University), who was trying to make a miraculous defensive save.
The Eagles had a couple of chances in the first half to tie it up but Detroit Mercy maintained its lead as the halftime horn sounded.
In the second half, Gabby Ketola put the Titans up 2-0 with a goal in the 49th minute.
FGCU responded less than 10 minutes later as Russell corralled the ball off a corner from sophomore Ashley Labbe (Lake Worth, Fla./Suncoast HS) and fired a shot from the right side of the box into the lower left corner of the net to get the Eagles on the board.
The Eagles kept attacking as they tried to find the equalizer and had their best chance in the 70th minute as a graduate student Libby Helverson (West Des Moines, Iowa/Valley HS/Drake) headed the ball past the keeper, but defender Hailey Wentzloff was on the line for the Titans and headed it away.
The Green and Blue had a couple of more shots in the final 20 minutes, but couldn’t find the back of the net as Detroit Mercy held on to win.
FGCU will look to rebound on Sunday as they travel to Tampa to take on South Florida. Kickoff from Corbett Stadium is set for 6 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, 2019, and 2021. 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 184-70-27 (.705) overall record through the first 15 seasons of the program’s existence, including an 93-19-15 (.791) mark in the ASUN. Blankenship’s impressive career record of 424-141-38 (.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 utilize 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 at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament. Eight FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport – 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 hours in 2017 – being recognized as one of two runners-up for the inaugural NACDA Community Service Award presented by the Fiesta Bowl.
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