Eagles punch ticket to ASUN title match
After capturing the regular season title and ensuring home field advantage, the Florida Gulf Coast University Eagles Women’s Soccer team will now compete for the ASUN championship.
It was a fierce defensive battle at Pickering Field in Fort Myers on Sunday, but when all was said and done, a lone Eagles goal was all it took to bring home a 1-0 win over Jacksonville.
“Phenomenal effort from the back four and Madara today” FGCU head coach Jim Blankenship told FGCU Athletics. “That was a tough game, they put us in a couple of dangerous spots, but we were able to stay organized and limit their chances to come away with the win. Had a lot of players contribute today, especially the bench. Avery White came in and gave us a spark, Ryleigh Acosta made a great play to set Taylor up for the goal, all really good.”
It was Taylor Latini who broke a scoreless draw 35 minutes in, getting the helper for Mariner High School alum Ryleigh Acosta.
Acosta picked off a Jacksonville pass as the Dolphins tried to get out of their own end. Acosta then dished the ball to Latini, who beat the goalie with her right boot to put FGCU in front 1-0 into the half. It was Latini’s fifth goal of the season.
Both teams traded hard-to-come-by chances, with phenomenal play by Jacksonville’s goaltender, who robbed Acosta of a would-be second FGCU goal by tipping the ball over the crossbar on a shot attempt.
From there, the FGCU back four shut down any run the Dolphins tried to make, holding JU to just one shot in the second half as they finished off their ninth clean sheet of the year.
Overall shots were just about even, as FGCU finished with 11 and Jacksonville 10. The difference was that five Eagle shots found their way on target while just two Dolphin shots did. It was a physical contest with FGCU being whistled for 16 of the 23 fouls while each team was shown a pair of yellow cards.
The Eagles now advance to the ASUN Championship Game for the first time since the 2023 season and improve to 11-2-5 on the year while remaining unbeaten at Pickering Field.
FGCU will host the Lipscomb Bisons on Friday at 4 p.m. at Pickering Field in the championship game with the winner moving on to the 2026 NCAA Tournament.
Lipscomb is the low seed in the tournament, and picked up back-to-back upset wins Thursday and Sunday to reach Friday’s final against the Eagles, including taking down No. 2 North Florida.
Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased at FGCUTickets.com or at the Alico Arena Box Office during business hours.
To reach CJ HADDAD, please email cjhaddad@breezenewspapers.com