Last Time Out:
The Eagles traveled to Ohio to begin their four-game road trip before conference play. They first played Power 5 Conference member Ohio State in a rematch from 2016 and succeeded with a 1-0 win over the Buckeyes and their 11th overall win against a Power 5 team.
The Eagles then traveled an hour northeast to face the Dayton where the game ended in a scoreless tie in double overtime.
FGCU vs. Power 5:
This season, the Eagles played three Power 5 Conference teams: Alabama, Michigan, and Ohio State in victorious manner (Alabama 4-2, Michigan 3-2, Ohio State 1-0). This was the first time that they beat all the Power 5 teams on their schedule.
A-SUN Legion of Doom:
Juniors Evdokia "Evi" Popadinova and Marjorie "Ma" Boilesen aka the A-SUN Legion of Doom are still the top scorers for FGCU.
Currently, Popadinova leads the team in goals (5). In the games against Ohio State, Popadinova scored the lone goal that gave FGCU the win. In all three games against Alabama, Michigan and Ohio, the Bulgarian scored in all three games. Popadinova also has two assists to her name.
Although she was struggling briefly, Boilesen is still make her mark offensively. The Sao Paulo native currently has two goals and two assists.
Weck City:
Junior goalkeeper Melissa Weck (5-0-1) currently has four shutouts to her name as well as 20 saves. In the series in Ohio, Weck had six saves against Ohio State and one against Dayton.
Weck currently ranks second in the ASUN in wins (5), shutouts (4), goals allowed (4), and goals against average (0.64).
The Yorba Linda, California native was named the TopDrawerSoccer.com National Player of the Week and the the United Soccer Coaches National Player of the Week, the first FGCU player in program history to receive these accolades.
"I am proud of her and all she has done for us this year. She has been a difference maker in some big games," Jim Blankenship said on Weck winning the Top Drawer Soccer weekly accolade. "She is playing with a lot of confidence right now, this award is well deserved."
"Weck has put her heart and soul into this program and her hard work is paying off," Blankenship said on Weck winning the United Soccer Coaches Keeper of the Week. "Obviously earning this award says a lot about what she has done, but it is also big for the program. It takes a lot of people to make something like this happen."
(Holly)wood:
Senior midfielder Holly Fritz has been on a hot start on her own with the A-SUN LOD. The Cape Coral native who transferred from Florida State last season is currently is second on team with four goals.
In all three games against the three Power 5 schools, Fritz had three goals in all three games.
Silv's Moment to Shine:
Recently, junior Silvana "Silv" Gordon has been hot on and off the field, which brings a strong positive vibe to the team. Since her increase of minutes on her role, the Medford, New Jersey native so far has logged in 242 minutes this season with still her best outing against Niagara on August 31 where she had a goal and an assist.
In the game against Dayton, Gordon played a season-high 45 minutes with one shot.
"Coming off the bench doesn't matter. If I'm starting or if I'm coming off the bench, as long as we win, I'm happy. If I get 10 minutes, if I play the whole game, it's fine," said Gordon after the game against Niagara. "For my role coming off the bench, it's just to get the energy up, and trying to make an impact when I can."
Polls:
After beating Michigan at home, the Eagles earned three points in the United Soccer Coach's Poll, but since beating Ohio State, they have increased their point count from three to 37 and are one point behind Power 5 Louisville.
In addition, the Eagles also moved up to #3 in the United Soccer Coaches South Region ranking poll and ranked #16 in the HeroSports.com National Poll.
Lucky 18:
FGCU is one of 18 teams that remain in good spirits without a loss, and one of three teams that are not a Power 5 Conference school.
Along with FGCU are 17 teams without a loss:
#1 Stanford: (6-0)
#2 FSU (7-0-1)
#3 USC (6-0-1)
#4 Texas A&M (8-0)
#5 Virginia (7-0)
#9 Auburn (7-0)
#10 Georgetown (5-0-2)
#11 Tennessee (6-0-1)
#12 Northwestern (6-0-1)
#14 Texas (6-0-1)
#16 Washington State (5-0)
#18 Kansas (5-0-2)
Colorado (6-0-1)
Mississippi St. (7-0)
TCU (6-0-1)
UW-Milwaukee (6-0)
Boston College (8-0)
#10 Georgetown (Big East) and Wisconsin-Milwaukee (Horizon) are the other two schools that are not a Power 5 Conference team.
Scouting FIU:
The Panthers are on a seven-game losing streak, the third longest in their program's history. They are coming of a two-game road trip in Texas where they fell 6-0 to Power 5 Conference member Texas Tech in Lubbock and 5-2 to Southern Methodist in Dallas. This will be their last non-conference game before beginning conference in Conference USA.
Freshman Christina Velazquez (0-7) has allowed all 26 goals in all seven games, but Velazquez has 46 saves. Velazquez
Offensively, fellow freshman Kaydeen Jack leads the team with two goals. She scored both of her goals in the loss to SMU.
Series History:
The Eagles are 8-1-1 against the Panthers overall.
Initially, the Eagles were scheduled to play FIU on Oct. 18, 2017, but was cancelled to rain, so the last game against FIU was on Sept. 1, 2016 where the Eagles won 1-0.
The Panthers lone win against the Eagles was on Aug. 26, 2010 where they won 1-0 in double overtime.
Scouting Loyola Chicago:
This will be the first time that the Eagles will face the Ramblers.
The Ramblers are on a three-game losing streak where they fell 2-0 to #21 Power 5 Oklahoma State 1-0 to Depaul, and 2-1 to Power 5 RV Wisconsin.
Like FIU, this will be the Ramblers last non-conference game before they begin conference play in the Missouri Valley Conference (aka The Valley).
Offensively, senior Jenna Szczesny and freshman Abby Swanson lead the way. Both have three goals each. Swanson scored the lone goal against Wisconsn.
Defensively, junior goalkeeper Kate Moran has 27 saves in her name, including five saves against Wisconsin.
How to Keep Updated:
Both games will have livestats and livestream provided.
In the game against FIU, the game will be on livestream on the Conference USA website, but a subscription is needed to watch ($6.95 for an all-day pass).
For the game against Loyola Chicago, the game will be on ESPN+. The app cost $4.99 a month for all the games livestream online. If anyone wants to give it a try, then they can do a week trial for free.
Fans can also keep updated on Twitter:
FGCU: @FGCU_WSoccer
FIU: @FIUWSoccer
Loyola Chicago: @RamblersWSOC
Livestat link vs FIU: https://fiusports.com/sidearmstats/wsoc/summary
Link to livestream game vs FIU: http://conferenceusa.com/watch/default.aspx?Live=4972&path=fiu (would not recommend, completely worthless).
Livestats link vs Loyola: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=220507
Livestream link vs Loyola: http://www.espn.com/watch/_/id/71d51d14-2a81-4277-953e-c6bcc55974a2/florida-gulf-coast-vs-loyolachicago
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