All good things must come to an end. Unfortunately for the FGCU Eagles (13-4-2) that came true on Sunday afternoon as they dropped their A-SUN Semifinal contest to Lipscomb (13-4-2) 1-0 to bring their 2018 season to an end.
"It was a difficult day and a tough way to have the season come to an end" head coach Jim Blankenship said. "I thought we played well and created plenty of opportunities, but credit to Lipscomb, they made the play when they needed to."
FGCU and Lipscomb met for the fourth straight season with the loser's season on the line Sunday. The Eagles came out ready to go, playing with the wind in the first half on a blustery day in Nashville. They put two shots on net in the first six minutes, quickly testing the A-SUN Goalkeeper of the Year Kate Mason for the Lady Bison.
The Eagles continued to attack, playing nearly the entire first 20 minutes in the Lipscomb end, but couldn't break through as the game remained scoreless at the midway point of the first half.
It was a stalemate from there into the half as neither team got a single shot off for the final 24 minutes of the period as they went to the break scoreless.
FGCU got off all five shots taken in the first half and took both corners given in the first 45 minutes.
Playing with the wind in the second half, Lipscomb finally showed some life as the second half got underway. The Lady Bison got their first shot off in the 48th minute and had their first real scoring chance in the 56th minute when junior Melissa Weck came up huge on a point blank chance from Lipscomb to keep it a 0-0 game.
The Green and Blue answered with a pair of shots of their own and drew a pair of corners in the 66th minute to put pressure on the Lady Bison.
The Eagles had a golden opportunity to net the go ahead goal in the 69th minute as junior Marjorie Boilesen put a strike on net, but Mason made a game saving stop to keep FGCU off the board.
Moments later the Eagles drew a corner and felt in control, but they never could have prepared for what was to come next. Off of the FGCU corner, Lipscomb got a clean clear, quickly turning into a break going the other way for the Lady Bison. A three on two quickly turned to a three on one as an Eagle defender unsuccessfully attempted to break up the run near midfield.
Things got worse as a second Eagle defender also whiffed on a breakup attempt and in the blink of an eye, Lipscomb had a trio of attackers running at Weck unmarked. Weck came out of the goal to try to cut off the angle and got a glove on the Lady Bison shot, but it trickled into the net after the contact to give Lipscomb a 1-0 lead in the 70th minute.
Playing with their backs to the wall, the Eagles pushed the pace into the win, getting three shots on goal in the next eight minutes, but again couldn't get any past the keeper as they continued to trail 1-0 with the clock closing in on the 10 minute mark.
The Green and Blue pressured twice in the final 10 minutes, but again couldn't break through and as the final horn sounded, it was Lipscomb celebrating a 1-0 win to end the Eagles season.
All numbers on the box score besides the goal count pointed towards a dominating performance by the Eagles. FGCU led shots 13-4, shots on goal 7-2, and corners 5-1, but it was Lipscomb's late goal that nullified all of those numbers.
FGCU sees their season come to an end at 13-4-2 as they failed to reach the A-SUN Finals for the first time in program history. All four of the Eagles losses in 2018 came in 1-0 contests. The loss also marks the Eagles first regulation loss in the A-SUN Tournament in program history.
Lipscomb improves to 13-4-2 with the win and with the combination of North Alabama's second straight upset win over NJIT, the Lady Bison punched their ticket to the NCAA Tournament heading into the final.
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