Officially wrapping up the regular season in a wave of white, the FGCU women’s soccer team (12-3-2, 5-3 A-SUN) shutout Stetson (4-10-3, 1-6-1 A-SUN) 3-0. With the win, the Eagles are now 11-1-1 against the Lady Hatters.
"At halftime we talked about finishing" head coach Jim Blankenship said. "I liked how our guys responded and put them under pressure before a couple of really nice goals. Our guys know that we have a chance in the tournament and hopefully we go out there and prove that we are a tough team to beat twice for some of those teams."
Before the game commenced, the Eagles recognized the three seniors: Shay Jackson, Holly Fritz and Camille Knudstrup. The three seniors were recognized with their families and what they've accomplished through their seasons.
Jackson and Knudstrup were on the team for all four years at FGCU, while Fritz joined FGCU her junior year after spending her first two seasons at FSU. All three seniors were placed in the starting lineup.
Blakenship sent junior Melissa Weck as the starting goalkeeper while Stetson head coach Manoj Khettry sent junior Emily Plotz to counter.
FGCU was on the attack early and often as they earned their first corner just one minute in and got an excellent chance at goal in the 5th minute.
The Eagles continued the pressure moments later as Jackson and juniors Evdokia Popadinova and Marjorie Boilesen forced back to back saves before the 20 minute mark, but couldn't get anything past the keeper as it remained a scoreless contest.
On the other side, Weck was profoundly tested in the 22nd minute, but made a big save and gave the Eagles a chance to take the lead later in the half, but junior Lindsey Patton and Popadinova were turned away on the doorstep to send the game to the half scoreless.
Going into the second half, not even three minutes, the Eagles struck first blood on the Lady Hatters as freshman Alyssa Abbondandolo secured the first goal of the game with an assist from Knudstrup. This was Abbondandolo third goal of the season and Knudstrup's third assist of the season.
In the 63rd minute, freshman Kara Kyramarios would sub in for Jackson. Four minutes later, sophomore Kavina Ganeshan would sub in for Fritz. Jackson would finish with 42 minutes of play while Fritz finished with 68 minutes and both would get a standing ovation from
Four minutes after Fritz's substitution, Abbondandolo would make way for her second goal of the game as she fired a rocket from the top of the box to top left corner to give the Eagles a 2-0 lead with an assist from Popadinova. This was Abbondandolo's fourth goal of the season and Popadinova's seventh assists of the season.
With five minutes left in the game, redshirt freshman Morgan Hawes would come in for Knudstrup. The Lakeland native would finish with 86 minutes, and would be the last senior off the field to be given a final standing ovation for the season.
After a Stetson foul, freshman Brianna Hatfield would hit a driving shot to bottom left corner off free kick from top of the box to make it 3-0 FGCU before the game officially ended. This was Hatfield's first goal of the season.
Weck (12-3-2) would get her 12th win of the season as she finished with five saves and her eighth clean sheet of the season. It was also her 40th win of her career and her 27.4th career shutout. Weck is three wins away from passing Stephanie Powers (42- 2008-11) for second all-time in career wins.
Weck's five saves also put her at 196 career saves.
Plotz (3-7-2) would end up with her seventh loss of the season after giving up all three goals and finishing with 12 saves.
The Eagles outdid the Lady Hatters in shots (22-5) and corner kicks (4-1).
With the win, the Eagles clinch the #4 seed for next week's A-SUN Tournament. They draw #5 seed Liberty in the first round Friday, but will not know whether they are heading to until after completion of action tomorrow when all sorts of scenarios could play out on the final day of the regular season. FGCU will either be on the road in Kennesaw, Georgia or Nashville, Tennessee depending on Sunday's results.
On Sunday, Lipscomb will play Kennesaw State for the #1 seed, NJIT will play A-SUN newcomer North Alabama to gain the #3 seed and UNF will player fellow A-SUN newcomer Liberty.
Both Lipscomb and Kennesaw will earn a first round bye as the #1 and #2 seeds and will face seeds #3-6 regardless of the outcome.
UNF does have a chance to gain the #6 seed if they defeat Liberty and North Alabama loses to NJIT.
If NJIT loses, the Eagles will enter as the #3 seed and face North Alabama as the #6 seed, should they defeat UNF.
Even if North Alabama enters the tournament, they are not eligible for the national tournament due to the four-year transitional period, and will not be a full-time member until the 2022-23 season.
Because of their overall and conference records, Stetson and Jacksonville (1-14-1, 1-7 A-SUN) are eliminated from tournament contention.
The only thing we can do now is wait.
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