"I thought our kids played with great energy" head coach Jim Blankenship said. "It was a playoff type game just like we knew it was going to be, I was very proud of the tempo and energy that our kids brought to the game." Blankenship also talked about the teams annual Pinkout, supporting breast cancer awareness, "it was nice for us to be able to recognize our cancer survivors and those that we have lost before the game. All of us have been touched by cancer. I lost my father to cancer and my mother beat cancer, so it is even a little bit more special to me" he said.
"We knew that Florida Gulf Coast was a quality team, having being ranked the top-25 this season and beating Power 5 schools," said Liberty head coach Lang Wedemeyer. "They came out with a lot of energy and a lot of pace and it caught our girls off guard. To our credit we battled and at the end of the game we had our chances. We weathered some storms and Melody (Jayroe) made some great saves to keep us in it and Devon (Sipala) hits the post so we were close and I hope that builds confidence for our players."
Blakenship sent junior Melissa Weck to the box while Wedemeyer sent sophomore Melody Jayroe to counter.
Going into the first, the Lady Flames kept stopping the Eagles from going across the field, which was working in their advantage, but the Eagles kept.
The Eagles had numerous opportunities to score the first goal of the match freshman Alyssa Abbondandolo, who had her first start of the game, sophomore Cassidy Morgan, redshirt sophomore Megan Young, and juniors Marjorie "Ma" Boilesen and Evdokia "Evi" Popadinova, but to no avail.
30 minutes into the first half, the Eagles got their opportunity from the A-SUN LOD as senior Holly Fritz helped Boilesen set up Popadinova for a shot down the middle and into the back of the net for an Eagles goal. This was Popadinova's 11th goal of the season.
In fact, the Bulgarian's 11th goal tied a season record for fifth most goals with Boilesen (2017), Shannen Wacker (2012) and Linda Haw (2007) in a season. Popadinova is now four away from passing FGCU all-time leader Tabby Tindell (2016 season) for fourth most all-time in goals.
"I'm really happy I scored the goal, but to be honest I had an early chance to score earlier, but I'm happy to help the team win," said Popadinova. "We've been struggling the past three games, and it was about time to come back to winning and scoring more goals. I also thought we had more chances to score more. I got a nice pass, and I took two girls (Fritz and Boilesen) and I got a good shot from there."
"We were definitely more positive during the whole week at practice," said Popadinova on the team's weekly performance. "It was really tough after three losses, but every day we've been motivating ourselves and our coaches that deserve a lot of credit for that because they tried to be positive despite the fact that it wasn't all good because we were losing, but we found our pace again, and I'm glad we're back, but it's gonna be tough though."
Boilesen assist was her eighth of the season as she tied for 10th most in program history with Tindell (2014, 2016) and Melisa Arnold (2013). In addition, Boilesen's eighth assist tied for eighth in the nation with seniors Carissima Cutrona (Buffalo) and Maria Sanchez (Santa Clara), juniors Miciah Madison (San Francisco), Caitlyn Reilly (Furman) and Ella Stevens (Duke) and sophomore Alyssa Malonson (Auburn).
Fritz also secured her fourth assist of the game.
Popadinova had another chance in the 41st minute, attempting a bicycle kick from inside the box off of a well-placed free kick from senior Camille Knudstrup, but it sailed just high to keep it a one goal game.
At the end of 45 minutes it was all FGCU. The Eagles outshot the Flames 16-3 and drew five corners to just one for the visitors. Nine of the Eagles shots found their way on goal while Liberty managed just a single shot on target.
The pressure didn't subside as the second half got underway as Abbondandolo and Boilesen both put shots on goal in the first three minutes of action for the Eagles.
It wasn't until the 66th minute that Liberty would put their second shot on goal, in the meantime, FGCU was already nearing their 20th shot on the night by that time.
In the 75th minute, the Lady Flames had their best scoring chance of the night as they found their first crease in the Eagle defense. From just inside the box, junior Sierra Lam let a right footed shot go and watched as Weck made a highlight reel save to keep FGCU on the right side of a 1-0 score.
The Eagles continued to push forward looking for an insurance goal, but couldn't find it as they continued to cling to a one goal lead with time winding down.
With just over five minutes remaining in regulation, the FGCU faithful held their breath as a Liberty shot sailed towards the Eagle goal and got past Weck, but clanged off the crossbar to keep it a 1-0 game.
That would be the end of the chances for the Lady Flames as FGCU dug in on defense finished Liberty off 1-0 to claim a huge three points in the A-SUN standings.
Weck (10-3-2) finished with three saves for her eighth shutout of the season and her 26th of her career.
"I thought I did well," said Weck. "I kind of was there when my team needed me, so they're out there running for 90 minutes, so I see as my way of giving back to them."
Jayroe (2-7) finished with 11 saves despite giving up the lone goal.
The Eagles pounded 23 shots at the Liberty net, 12 of those finding their target, while the Lady Flames finished with eight shots and three on cage at Weck. FGCU earned 10 corners on the night to four for Liberty.
Both teams ended up with a combined 29 fouls (15 for Liberty, 14 for FGCU).
*Personal Side Note:
I have friends that went to Liberty that I love and respect deeply and some of the sports at Liberty, I have the utmost respect for them too, but their women's soccer, I'm outraged with them.
In this series between FGCU and Liberty, I'm not surprised by the outcome since Liberty does have a strong tendency to target the legs of Boilesen and Popadinova, which obviously annoys and infuriates me at all levels, along with the numerous possible elbows thrown and purposely hard fouls they committed in the game.
When we first play Liberty during the 2016 season in Virginia, everything seemed in order, although we had more fouls the first game (8-4), but we beat them 1-0.
During 2017 season, Liberty caused 15 fouls to our 14, elbowing and targeting Boilesen, and alums Nikki Hudson and Varin Ness. I seriously called them out on that for their despicable attitudes. We ended up winning 3-2.
If we play them in the conference tournament and if it was at FGCU, I would seriously call them out for their character.
A-SUN STANDINGS:
1. Kennesaw St 12-3-1, 5-1-0
2. FGCU 10-3-2, 4-3-0
NJIT 10-4-1, 4-2-0
4. Lipscomb 8-4-2, 3-1-0
5. North Alabama 8-6-0, 2-2-0
Liberty 3-10-0, 2-3-0
7. North Florida 6-6-1, 1-3-1
Stetson 4-8-3, 1-4-1
9. Jacksonville 1-11-1, 1-4-0
Up Next:
The Eagles will take a little breather from conference play as they welcome NAIA Webber International (4-8, 2-4 TSC) to the FGCU Soccer Complex on Monday, October 15 at 7 P.M.
"I thought I did well," said Weck. "I kind of was there when my team needed me, so they're out there running for 90 minutes, so I see as my way of giving back to them."
Jayroe (2-7) finished with 11 saves despite giving up the lone goal.
The Eagles pounded 23 shots at the Liberty net, 12 of those finding their target, while the Lady Flames finished with eight shots and three on cage at Weck. FGCU earned 10 corners on the night to four for Liberty.
Both teams ended up with a combined 29 fouls (15 for Liberty, 14 for FGCU).
*Personal Side Note:
I have friends that went to Liberty that I love and respect deeply and some of the sports at Liberty, I have the utmost respect for them too, but their women's soccer, I'm outraged with them.
In this series between FGCU and Liberty, I'm not surprised by the outcome since Liberty does have a strong tendency to target the legs of Boilesen and Popadinova, which obviously annoys and infuriates me at all levels, along with the numerous possible elbows thrown and purposely hard fouls they committed in the game.
When we first play Liberty during the 2016 season in Virginia, everything seemed in order, although we had more fouls the first game (8-4), but we beat them 1-0.
During 2017 season, Liberty caused 15 fouls to our 14, elbowing and targeting Boilesen, and alums Nikki Hudson and Varin Ness. I seriously called them out on that for their despicable attitudes. We ended up winning 3-2.
If we play them in the conference tournament and if it was at FGCU, I would seriously call them out for their character.
A-SUN STANDINGS:
1. Kennesaw St 12-3-1, 5-1-0
2. FGCU 10-3-2, 4-3-0
NJIT 10-4-1, 4-2-0
4. Lipscomb 8-4-2, 3-1-0
5. North Alabama 8-6-0, 2-2-0
Liberty 3-10-0, 2-3-0
7. North Florida 6-6-1, 1-3-1
Stetson 4-8-3, 1-4-1
9. Jacksonville 1-11-1, 1-4-0
Up Next:
The Eagles will take a little breather from conference play as they welcome NAIA Webber International (4-8, 2-4 TSC) to the FGCU Soccer Complex on Monday, October 15 at 7 P.M.
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