FGCU W. Soc @ FIU Recap

Depsite a brief lightning delay, the FGCU women's soccer team (6-0-1) traveled their way to Miami and slaughtered FIU (0-8) by a score of 5-1. With the win, the Eagles are now 9-1-1 against the Panthers.

"We came out with a good professional approach tonight and took care of business" Head Coach Jim Blankenship said.  "We got off to a good start with the two early goals and set the tone right away."

For starting goalkeepers, Blakenship had junior Melissa Weck start, as usual, while FIU head coach Sharolta Nonen sent freshman Christina Velazquez to counter.

In addition, Blakenship made a big change in the lineup. Along with his usual starters, freshman Kara Kyramarios was placed in the starting lineup and sophomore Zoey Spitzer returned to the lineup to help senior Camile Knudstrup and junior Lindsey Patton in the backfield for defense.

Not even a minute into the first half, the Panthers began with a foul. After a wide header from junior Marjorie "Ma" Boilesen and a corner kick from senior Holly Fritz, Kyramarios would claim her first collegiate goal at the top of the box to make 1-0 FGCU, three minutes in with an assist from junior Evdokia "Evi" Popadinova.

Five minutes later, after two Panther shot attempts from senior Jacky Manteas and redshirt sophomore Ashley Adams and a corner kick from senior Emily Baragar, Popadinova would give the Eagles a 2-0 lead with an assist from sophomore Cassidy Morgan. This was Popadinova's sixth goal of the season and Morgan's first assist of the season.

15 minutes in, Boilesen would increase the Eagles lead to 3-0 with a header and an assist from Fritz. This was Boilesen's third goal of the season and Fritz's second assist of the season.

In addition, it was also the Sao Paulo native's 14th career goal and she is now three away from passing Gina Petracco (16, 2008-11) for 7th all-time.

Morgan would make it 4-0 with her second goal of the season and assists from Popadinova and senior Shay Jackson before the end of the first half.

For Jackson, it was her third assist of the season, and for Popadinova, it was also third assist of the season and her second of the game.

With the goals from Popadinova and Boilesen, the A-SUN Legion of Doom have a scored nine goals combined.

Going into the second half, the Panthers would finally get on the board as they scored their first goal of the half off the foot of Adams with an assist from freshman Kaydeen Jack. This was Adams' second goal of the season.

Although the Panthers scored, it did very little effect as the Eagles increased the lead even more as freshman Alyssa Abbondandolo clocked her first collegiate goal of the season with an assist from junior Emilie Olsen, which would be the final goal of the game.

Despite giving up the goal in the second half, Weck (6-0-1) still earned the win and contributed with four saves.

The Eagles outshot the Panther 23-13 and 12-2 in corner kicks, while the Panthers committed six fouls in contrast to the Eagles' two.

Velazquez (0-8) would be credited with the loss after giving up all four goals and added five saves.

Up Next:
The Eagles travel to the Windy City to face Loyola Chicago on Sunday, Sept 16 at 2 PM to wrap up their four-game road trip before opening conference.