SCF Sports: FGCU W Soc vs. Georgia Southern: Opening Game Preview

FGCU W Soc vs. Georgia Southern: Opening Game Preview

The FGCU Women's Soccer team will open it's 2018 season this weekend with a home contest against Georgia Southern Friday night at 7 P.M. at the FGCU Soccer Complex.

Like a lot of the athletic events with Georgia Southern, this will be the "Battle of the Eagles".

Last Time Out:
FGCU is coming off of a 14-4-1 overall record with a 5-1-1 record in the A-SUN. They would defeat Lipscomb 3-2 in double overtime to punch their ticket to the national tournament before falling to Florida in the first round. Last year's championship game against Lipscomb was the third straight year that FGCU defeated the Bison.

Newcomers:
A pair of new goalkeepers will also help the Eagles final line of defense this season as redshirt sophomore Hannah Weisse transferred to FGCU from UTSA and freshman Stephanie Starr joins the Eagles from Edward S. Marcus High School .

Weiss, who is listed as a redshirt sophomore, played in 12 matches for the Roadrunners as a freshman in 2016, making seven starts and turning aside 26 shots in the process. Weiss will have three years of eligibility remaining after transferring.

Starr joins FGCU after winning a pair of area championships and a club title for the D'Feeters in the 2015 Dallas International Girls Cup.

FGCU then added Logan Oldani and Syniah Clark to their defensive group in 2018.

Oldani won district crowns at Klein High School in each of her final three seasons there and was tabbed a 'defensive standout' by TopDrawerSoccer.com in 2016 because of her efforts.

Listed as a sophomore, Clark joins the Eagles on the pitch this season after being named All-State and the All-Area player of the year twice for Ida Baker.

In addition, FGCU brings in a large group of new midfielders to the lineup this season including four true freshman and a transfer.

Opal Curless joins FGCU after playing at Syracuse the past two seasons. With the Orange, Curless, who will be listed as a junior, played in 35 games, drawing 12 starts while putting 15 shots on net.

Four other true freshmen that will don the green and blue this season include Ashlee Brentlinger, Kara Kyramarios, Nicole Cook, and Brianna Hatfield.

Brentlinger was the Gatorade Player of the Year in Delaware, leading Pandua Academy to three state championships while earning All-State honors in each season for the Pandas.

Kyramarios, who joined FGCU during the spring 2018 semester, was a five-time State Cup finalist and two-time champion at Titusville, drawing the captains band in three of those seasons.

Cook, who joined the Eagles with Kyramarios in spring 2018, starred for the Austin Sting, winning the Florida Cup in 2014 and claiming an IMG Cup Championship along the way.

Both Kyramarios and Cook graduated early from their respected high schools and were the second and third players to join FGCU for the spring semester (first is sophomore Hope Van Wagner).

Hatfield put up 135 points in a 77 match career at Alton, earning the captains nod twice as well as All-State honors a pair of times. During her junior season, Hatfield put the ball in the back of the net 20 times including seven game winners for the Redbirds.

The final two newcomers for FGCU that come up front are freshman Alyssa Abbondandolo and junior All-American transfer Evdokia Popadinova.

Abbondandolo ended her career at Oasis as the all-time leading goal scorer for the Sharks and played locally for Global Premiere and North Fort Myers on the club circuit.

Popadinova transfers to FGCU after spending her first two All-American seasons at NAIA Northwestern Ohio. As a freshman, Popadinova helped the Racers to a National Championship, putting up 34 points including 12 goals in 14 starts. As a sophomore, she started 22 matches, finishing with 19 goals and 15 assists as the Racers made another national semifinal appearance.

Key Returners:
The Eagles also bring back a wealth of talent to the field this year starting with the 2018 A-SUN Preseason Goaltender of the Year in junior Melissa Weck. Weck was just the second FGCU goalkeeper in history to win A-SUN Keeper of the Year honors last season. She notched nine shutouts and made 60 saves a season ago, posting a 0.75 goals against average in 19 matches.

Also back in net for the Eagles is redshirt freshman Natalie Schaps. Schaps made her name on the U17 circuit for her home country of Guatemala before sitting out her first year in Fort Myers as a redshirt.

Arguably the core of the 2017 A-SUN Championship team, three defenders return to the mix for the Eagles, a year after posting one of the best defensive seasons in program history.

The 2018 A-SUN Preseason Defender of the Year junior Lindsey Patton headlines the group. Patton was a A-SUN All-Conference First Team pick a season ago, playing all but 29 minutes on the year while helping FGCU limit opponents to just 14 goals all season.

Also returning on the backline are stalwarts senior Camille Knudstrup and junior Petra Smetkova.

Knudstrup was a A-SUN All-Conference Second Team selection as a junior last season, starting 18 matches and scoring four times to go along with seven assists.

Smetkova made 10 appearances for the Eagles a season ago, logging 256 minutes on the year. Smetkova transferred from Arkansas prior to FGCU.

FGCU brings back a big group of returners at the midfield led by preseason All A-SUN selection Holly Fritz. Fritz was a A-SUN All-Conference First Team pick as a junior in 2017, notching 10 assists on the year to rank in the top 10 nationally.

Fellow senior Shay Jackson will look to go out with a bang after suiting up for 27 Eagle matches in her first three years.

Junior Silvana Gordon comes back after one year removed from seeing action in 18 matches for the Eagles.

Four second year players return to the mix in the midfield for FGCU including Cassidy Morgan, Tori Dorr, Hope Van Wagner, and Kavina Ganeshan.

Morgan made her way onto the A-SUN All-Freshman team in the A-SUN last season, finishing second among conference rookies with 13 points on the year.

Dorr sat out last year with an injury after logging more than 500 minutes in 18 matches as a freshman in 2016.

Like Morgan, Van Wagner was named to the A-SUN All-Freshman Team a year ago after seeing time in 19 games while notching two goals and three assists for the Eagles.

Ganeshan appeared in three matches for FGCU in 2017, playing a total of 58 minutes including a season high 33 against Webber International late in the season.

Up front the Eagles return a number of notable names as well including 2018 A-SUN Preseason Player of the Year and my best friend, junior Marjorie "Ma" Boilesen. Boilesen had a breakout year in her first season in Fort Myers, leading the A-SUN in both goals and points in 2017. Her 11 goals and 31 points on the year both ranked 5th on FGCU's all-time single season lists and putting her name on the A-SUN All-Conference First Team.

Also returning to the fold is fellow junior Emilie Olsen. Olsen, who battled through injuries in 2017, made 14 appearances and tallied a pair of assists for the Eagles.

Redshirt sophomore Megan Young also returns to the fold after missing the entire 2017 season with an injury after a promising first year with the Eagles in which she played in 18 matches, scoring once and adding assists in 513 minutes of action.

Sophomore Zoey Spitzer was another A-SUN All-Freshman Team selection last season in the A-SUN after she started all 19 fixtures and played 1600 minutes for FGCU.

Redshirt freshman Morgan Hawes will be making her official debut after sitting out the entire 2017 season following a 19 goal season as a senior in 2016 at North Broward.

Preseason Favorites:
FGCU is a heavy favorite to repeat as A-SUN Champions for the ninth straight year in 2018 after receiving eight of nine first place votes in the preseason coaches' poll.

FGCU continues to chase history in that category as they currently have the longest active conference championship streak in the nation and are slowly creeping up on the all-time mark of 15 set by Penn State from 1998-2012.

Scouting Georgia Southern:
Georgia Southern is coming off of a 8-9-2 season in which they went 4-5-1 in the Sun Belt Conference to draw a six seed for the conference tournament. Georgia Southern was able to pull off an upset of 3rd seeded Troy in the first round of the Sun Belt Tournament, but their Cinderella slipper fell off in the semifinals with a loss to Coastal Carolina to end their season.

Georgia Southern, who was picked sixth in the preseason Sun Belt coaches poll, bring back a solid number of returners for the 2018 campaign including leading scorer Frida Brattum who put the ball in the back of the net five times for Georgia Southern a year ago.

Series History:
Friday night marks just the second meeting in the series after FGCU went to Statesboro last season and collected a 3-0 win.

Fritz, Boilesen, Spitzer, Van Wagner, Morgan, Smetkova, and former Eagles Varin Ness, Jocelyn Nelson, Kiana Rugar and Lauren Moss made their debuts in the game.

The game will be available on livestream via Facebook Live on the FGCU women's soccer page.

Livestats will also be available for people that are unable to watch.

In addition, it is also a Whiteout, so fans are encouraged to wear white for the game.

Facts of the Game:
FGCU is 6-4-1 in opening games, 7-3-1 in home games and 5-5-1 on the road.

Below are pictures of me with some of the players from last season: