FGCU WSOC: A-SUN Conference Tournament Preview

The No. 1 FGCU women's soccer team (11-4-1, 6-1-1 A-SUN) is gearing up for the postseason, as the team is set to compete in the A-SUN Championship semifinals at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 3 at the FGCU Soccer Complex. The Eagles, who captured this year's A-SUN regular season title, were awarded a first-round bye and will face off against the winner of Friday night's 5 p.m. quarterfinal between No. 4 UNF (11-5-2, 5-2-1, A-SUN) and No. 5 Kennesaw State (10-7-0, 5-3-0 A-SUN).

The semifinal game at the Nest will be a white out and will be streamed on YouTube Live for fans that cannot attend.

FGCU's regular season title marked the ninth in program history and the team enters the postseason looking for its seventh tournament crown.

Awards and Accolades:
Prior to the tournament, the A-SUN presented awards to the players that did the best overall:

A-SUN Coach of the Year:
For the fifth time in his career, head coach Jim Blakenship was honored with the A-SUN Coach of the Year, which is the most of any other coach in the A-SUN. Blakenship led the Eagles to the 2019 A-SUN regular season championship, as well as the program's 11th-consecutive season with double-digit wins. The regular season crown was the ninth in program history and the team enters the postseason looking for its seventh tournament crown. This is the fifth Coach of the Year honor for Blankenship, . Earlier this season, Blankenship surpassed 400 career wins with a 2-1 FGCU victory over Creighton (Sept. 20). His 407 wins are the 10th-most among active DI coaches and his career win percentage (.743) also checks in at 10th on the all-time list.

A-SUN Player of the Year:
For the first time her career, senior Evdokia "Evi" Popadinova earned the A-SUN Player of the Year as well as a member of the A-SUN All-Conference First Team for the second time this season and on the A-SUN All-Academic Team. Popadinova paces the team with 22 points, which she has tallied from 10 goals and a pair of assists. She has contributed 13 points in conference play and recently checked into the top three of the FGCU all-time scorers list with 24 career goals.

A-SUN Goalkeeper of the Year:
The A-SUN Goalkeeper of the Year was earned by Liberty's Melody Jayroe. Jayroe has been exceptional all season including an impressive A-SUN campaign allowing just two goals in eight games. Jayroe and the backline played its best soccer during conference play as they did not allow an A-SUN team to score a goal during regulation. Jayroe ranks second in school history with 20 career shutouts, tied with Karen Blocker (2008-12), as the junior posted eight shutouts this season with 93 saves. The last goal Liberty has allowed during regulation was in the 43rd minute of the first half against James Madison on Sept. 19. This is the second postseason honor for Jayroe in her career as she was named to the 2017 Big South All-Freshman Team.

A-SUN Defensive Player of the Year:
For the first time this season, senior Lindsey Patton was named the A-SUN Defensive Player of the Year. A four-year starter for FGCU, Patton has played the full duration in all but once match this season. She anchors FGCU's back line, which has allowed just 14 goals this season, the lowest amount in the conference. She helped lead the team to a league-high eight shutouts and has helped limit opponents to an average of just eight shots per game. This is the third-consecutive season that she has earned First Team All-Conference recognition and she has been named to a postseason team in each of her three seasons in Fort Myers. She is the seventh Eagle to receive A-SUN Defensive Player of the Year recognition and the first to do so since Ashley Parks was selected in 2017. In addition to the aforementioned honors, Patton, a 3.93 GPA student majoring in Exercise Science, also received her third-consecutive all-academic selection.

A-SUN Freshman of the Year:
Kennesaw State's Becky Contreras was named A-SUN Freshman of the Year to go along with her Second Team selection, as well as her unanimous selection to the All-Freshman team. The freshman had a breakout first year with the team. Throughout 17 games, she tallied five goals and one assist, four goals of which were game winners. She also ranks fourth in the conference in shots with 59. She is the first Freshman of the Year recipient in Kennesaw State history.

A-SUN Scholar-Athlete of the Year:
Lipscomb's Olivia Doak was named the A-SUN Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Doak, who was also named a member of the A-SUN All-Conference First Team, racked up a number of stats to lead the Bison's offense to its third-straight regular season title posting nine goals, five assists and 23 points while maintaining a 3.92 GPA.

A-SUN All-Conference First Team:
Joining Popadinova and Patton on the A-SUN All-Conference First Team is senior Marjorie "Ma" Boilesen. A now three-time First Team All-Conference selection, Boilesen paces the league with six assists and checks in at ninth in the A-SUN rankings with 16 points, despite missing one game due to injury. She has finished a pair of games with two goals and contributed five crucial points during the team's eight-match unbeaten streak (Sept. 15 – Oct. 17). This season, she cracked into the top four in the FGCU record book in both career assists (24) and career points (66). She is now just six assists away from overtaking the program record, having tallied four assists in the last four matches. Boilesen, a Management major, was also named to the all-academic team for the first time in her career and has posted a 3.41 GPA.

Other players that were named on the A-SUN All-Conference First Team are as listed:
Kennesaw State: Isabella Contreras

Liberty: Jayroe and Gabrielle Farrell

UNF: Hollyn Knight and Thais Reiss

North Alabama: Shelby Wall

Lipscomb: Maycie McKay and Doak

A-SUN All-Conference Second Team:
Senior Melissa Weck and junior Zoey Spitzer were named on the A-SUN All-Conference Second Team.

Weck had already established herself as one of the most decorated keepers in both school and conference history heading into this season. A three-time all-conference selection, she has been named A-SUN Defensive Player of the Week six times throughout her career, including twice this season. The six selections are the second-most of any player in conference history. This year, she leads the conference in goals against (13) and wins (11) and has posted seven solo shutouts. She ranks third all-time in the FGCU record book in both career goals-against average (0.75) and saves (249) and her 34.4 career shutouts are three away from both the A-SUN and FGCU records.

This was the second time Spitzer was named to the A-SUN All-Conference Second Team. After opening up the season with an assist in the 2-0 victory over FIU (Aug. 22), she has gone on to play the full duration in all but two matches. Spitzer has played an important role in the team's league-high eight shutouts and has helped to direct a defense that has allowed just 14 goals, the lowest of any team in the A-SUN.

Other players that were named on the A-SUN All-Conference Second Team are as listed:
Kennesaw State: Kelsey Hahn and Becky Contreras

Liberty: Grace Spade

UNF: Hollyn Knight and Thais Reiss

North Alabama: Shelby Wall

Lipscomb: Maycie McKay and Doak

NJIT: Siani Magruder

A-SUN All-Freshman Team:
Louise Lillback was named a unanimous selection to the A-SUN All-Freshman Team. Lillback paces all conference freshmen in goals, assists and points, as well as goals scored in league play and conference points. Earlier this season, she was named A-SUN Player of the Week (Sept. 30) after having a hand in all three of the team's goals as FGCU downed North Alabama (Sept. 26); she scored twice and contributed an assist. She was the first freshman from FGCU to receive the honor since 2013. Though she has only started five games, she has been the first reserve to enter in the other 11.

The other freshman listed on the A-SUN All-Freshman Team are as listed:
Kennesaw State: Becky Contreras, Hayley Dekker and Camryn Simmons

Liberty: Spade

UNF: Devyn Encalada

Lipscomb: Molly Grant and Katia Hanger

NJIT: Molly Saylor

Jacksonville: Olivia Abdallah

Stetson: Maggie Struble

A-SUN All-Academic Team:
Joining Boilesen, Popadinova and Patton on the A-SUN All-Academic Team is senior Opal Curless and sophomore Ashlee Brentlinger.

This is the first postseason honor for Curless, who owns a 4.0 GPA as a Psychology major. She has started every game that she has played in during her two seasons at FGCU and has played the full duration in all but two matches this year. She tallied an assist during the team's 2-0 win over Northeastern (Sept. 8) and has played a large role in the Eagles' strong back line. Curless has helped the team to its league-high eight shutouts and has been successful at keeping the pressure off Weck, who has only had to face an average of four shots per game.

Brentlinger, a 4.0 GPA student majoring in biology, has been awarded with a spot on the all-academic team, marking the first postseason selection in her Eagle career. This season, she has been one of FGCU's go-to midfielders, having contributed five points off of one goal and three assists. She has started all but three matches for the Green and Blue and has assisted on two key goals in conference play: the first being Lillback's game-winner against North Alabama and the second being Boilesen's goal that forced the game against Lipscomb to end in a 1-1 draw.

Other players that were named on the A-SUN All-Academic Team are as listed:
Liberty: Grace Spade

UNF: Rhiannon Conelley

North Alabama: Wall

Lipscomb: Doak, McKay, Leah Cernicky,

NJIT: Siani Magruder

Stetson: Lily Ammon

"I'm excited and proud for all of our players that were honored," Blankenship said. "They've put a lot of work into this season and, obviously, to be rewarded for their effort means a lot to them. I know that they were really happy to be recognized among their peers and I could not be more excited for our team. We work for this (A-SUN Championship) all year and now it's time to get it done."

The Green and Blue:
The regular season title came down to the final weekend of conference play, as FGCU and Lipscomb were knotted up at 16 points apiece. In their final conference match of the season, the Eagles downed Stetson 3-2 (Oct. 27) to take over the top of the rankings. Later that night, the Bison defeated North Alabama by a score of 6-0 to match the Green and Blue once again.

Since the teams posted a 1-1 draw during their regular season matchup (Sept. 29), the tiebreaker came down to RPI, in which the Eagles held a 99-136 advantage over the Bison.

The spot in the postseason tournament marks the ninth-consecutive season that head coach Jim Blankenship's squad has achieved such a feat. In all but one season, FGCU has reached the A-SUN Championship match.

In her final season between the pipes, senior Melissa Weck has been dominant for the Eagles. She has posted seven individual shutouts and leads the conference having allowed just 13 goals. Her career goals-against average of 0.75 checks in at third in the FGCU record book and fifth in A-SUN history.

Scouting UNF:
North Florida clinched its spot in the postseason tournament after earning a 4-0 victory over the Stetson Hatters (Oct. 24). The team's 11 wins this season match the program's DI record.

The Eagles own a 1-0-0 edge over the Ospreys in the head-to-head tournament record. The last time the programs met in the postseason was during the quarterfinals of the 2011 season, where FGCU claimed a 2-1 victory.

Junior Thais Reiss leads UNF with 28 points, the second-most of any player in the conference. She leads the league in assists (six) and paces the team with 11 goals. In league play, she has found the back of the net three times and has contributed five assists.

In this year's regular season meeting between the two teams (Oct. 17), Popadinova found the back of the net in the 104th minute to hand the Eagles the double-overtime win. Weck was challenged throughout the match, but had answers to all of the Ospreys attempts, finishing the night with three highlight-reel stops.

Scouting Kennesaw State:
FGCU and Kennesaw State have met twice during the postseason, both of which have resulted in Eagle victories. The Green and Blue downed the Owls in the 2014 Championship, earning a 3-1 triumph. In 2016, the teams faced off in the semifinals where the Eagles grabbed a 2-1 win to advance to the championship game.

Redshirt-junior Tiffany Sornpao has started all 17 matches in net for the Owls. Her five conference shutouts are the second-most in the league and she has been scored on five times by A-SUN opponents.

Kennesaw State's offense has been well-balanced throughout the season, as 10 different Owls have found the back of the net. Freshman Becky Contreras leads the group with five goals, while junior Erin Harris paces the team with 12 points.

Earlier this season, FGCU hosted Kennesaw State at the Nest and handed the visiting team a 2-0 loss (Oct. 10). Lillback and senior Silvana Gordon scored for the Eagles as the team cruised past the Owls.

The Bracket:
The A-SUN Championship is a single-elimination tournament format that is played over the course of two weeks. The top six teams, based on the regular season standings, advance to the postseason. Each game is hosted by the highest remaining seed, including the championship, which is set for a 6 p.m. kickoff on Saturday, Nov. 9.

While the Ospreys and the Owls travel to Fort Myers, No. 3 Liberty and No. 6 NJIT will travel to Nashville where the teams will battle to take on No. 2 Lipscomb.
The Flames and the Highlanders will face off at 7 p.m. on Friday night at the Lipscomb Soccer Complex. The winner will advance to Sunday's 1 p.m. semifinal against the Bisons.

A-SUN Standings
1. FGCU * (19 points, 11-4-1, 6-1-1 A-SUN)
2. Lipscomb * (19 points, 12-5-1, 6-1-1 A-SUN)
3. Liberty * (18 points, 10-6-2, 6-2-0 A-SUN)
4. UNF * (16 points, 11-5-2, 5-2-1 A-SUN)
5. Kennesaw State * (15 points, 10-7-0, 5-3-0 A-SUN)
6. NJIT * (10 points, 6-7-3, 3-4-1 A-SUN)
7. North Alabama (6 points, 6-10-0, 2-5-0 A-SUN)
T-8. Stetson (1 point, 2-13-2, 0-7-1 A-SUN)
T-8. Jacksonville (1 point, 0-12-3, 0-6-1 A-SUN)
* - Denotes clinched spot in A-SUN Championship