NEWARK, N.J. – With help from four first-half goals, the FGCU women's soccer team cruised to a 6-0 victory over the newest member of the Atlantic Sun – NJIT – Sunday afternoon at the home of the Highlanders. With the victory, the Eagles improve to 10-5-2 on the year with an unbeaten record of 5-0-1 in A-Sun play. The Highlanders fall to 2-13 with a 0-6 league record.
 
With the road win, the Eagles maintain their top position in the league standings and earn a bye in the first round of the A-Sun Championship Tournament at the end of the month. The Green and Blue still hold a one-point advantage over Lipscomb, who defeated third-place Stetson 3-0 Sunday afternoon, and will need a win at Stetson Saturday evening (or a Lipscomb loss or tie at NJIT) to clinch the team's sixth-straight A-Sun Regular Season Championship. Further details about the conference standings are below.
 
The Eagles used six goals from five different players to shutout the Highlanders and outshot the home team 30-1 with 19 shots on goal. Nikki Hudson (Baltimore, Md./Roland Park County School/Rutgers) led the team with two goals, while Ally Kasun (Lancaster, Pa./Hempfield High School), Paulina Speckmaier (Miami, Fla./Gulliver Prep), Lauren Greene (Lakeland, Fla./George Jenkins High School) and Shay Jackson (Parkville, Mo./Park Hill High School) each added a single tally in the win.
 
Defensively, seniors Brittany Brown (Rochester, N.Y./Greece Athena High School) and Emily Dolan (Wilmington, Del./Charter School of Wilmington) split time in net for a combined shutout.
 
"This was another great result for us," said head coach Jim Blankenship. "Our goal is always to earn three points and that becomes more difficult on the road. I'm proud of the way the team fought in an unfamiliar environment and the way we played together as a unit today."
 
The Eagles opened the contest firing and produced eight shots in the first 15 minutes of action. The team challenged the NJIT goal keeper – Samantha Bersett – four times in that span and never allowed the Highlanders to create an attack.
 
In the 20th minute, freshman Camille Knudstrup (Lakeland, Fla./George Jenkins High School) took the ball up the right side line and distributed the ball into the box. The cross caught Bersett off balance and allowed Kasun to put a shot away at the right post to give the Eagles the initial lead.
 
The Eagles continued to pressure the NJIT backline and fired back-to-back shots near the 26-minute mark. An attempt from Tabby Tindell (Ocala, Fla./Trinity Catholic High School) was stopped by Bersett before Sarah Lowicki (Ontario, Canada/Notre Dame Catholic Secondary School) sent Hudson the ball outside the box. Hudson rocketed a shot from 20-yards out that beat the keeper and pushed FGCU ahead 2-0 in the 27th minute.
 
After a ten-minute span of play in the midfield, the Eagles saw Tindell attack again. Tindell's shot was saved by Bersett, who knocked it over the bar and gave way for an FGCU corner kick in the 39th minute. Kasun's corner drove through the box and found Speckmaier on the far side where the forward took a one-timer from the right corner that found the net at the far post for a 3-0 lead.
 
Just one minute later, Hudson pushed the score to 4-0 on an unassisted goal. Hudson fired the long-range shot quickly when the defense misplayed a clear at the top of the box and gave the Green and Blue a 4-0 lead as the first-half finished.
 
Kaitlin Parker (Palm Harbor, Fla./Clearwater Central Catholic High School) and Hudson added shots for the Eagles in the opening minutes of the second stanza but the Highlander backline worked hard at keeping the ball in the midfield.
 
Dolan entered the game for the second half and made the team's only required save in the 50th minute. The Highlanders also changed goal keepers in the second half – opting for Karen David late in the game – and stopped two Tindell shots in the 63rd minute.
 
The Eagles made a substitution to put Greene in the game in the 65th minute and immediately saw the change take form as Green netted the team's fifth goal of the game just one minute later. Tindell fed the ball to Lowicki on the right side who passed into the box to Greene for the sophomore's first goal of the year.
 
With 20 minutes to play, the Green and Blue controlled play and added eight more shots that were off target or stifled by David but did not back down.
 
Parker and Kasun combined to feed the ball into the box where Jackson took control of the ball. The rookie found the back of the net for her second career goal with 17 seconds to play, giving the Eagles the ultimate 6-0 lead. The last-minute strike was also Jackson's second of the season as her first collegiate goal came in the 90th minute of the win over USC Upstate.
 
With the A-Sun victory, the Eagles are now unbeaten in 26-straight Atlantic Sun Conference regular season games and are one win shy of their third-straight unblemished conference season. As Sunday marks the team's 10th win of the season, 2015 now marks the Eagles' ninth-straight season in nine years as a program with double-figure victories.
 
The Eagles will conclude the Atlantic Sun slate Saturday, Oct. 24 with a 7 p.m. matchup with Stetson in DeLand before the A-Sun Tournament begins the following weekend. Stetson stands in third-place with 10 points in conference play after falling to Lipscomb Sunday. The Hatters are 9-6-1 overall.
 
A-SUN PLAY
The Eagles maintain first place in the Atlantic Sun Conference after Sunday's victory over NJIT. The team has 16 points in conference play, one point ahead of second-ranked Lipscomb who holds a record of 5-1. The Eagles would clinch their sixth-straight regular season championship outright with a win over Stetson Saturday night – moving them to 19 points overall. The Eagles can also clinch the regular-season championship with a Lipscomb loss to NJIT Sunday afternoon as the Bisons would finish the season at 15 points. Complete scenarios are as follows:
                If FGCU beats Stetson, FGCU wins the title outright, regardless of Lipscomb result
                If FGCU ties Stetson, FGCU would need a Lipscomb loss or tie to NJIT
                                If FGCU ties Stetson and Lipscomb beats NJIT, Lipscomb would win the regular-season championship by one point
                                If FGCU ties Stetson and Lipscomb ties NJIT, FGCU would maintain the one-point lead and win the regular-season championship
                                If FGCU ties Stetson and Lipscomb falls at NJIT, FGCU would win the regular-season championship
                If FGCU falls at Stetson, the Eagles would need a Lipscomb loss or tie to NJIT
                                If FGCU loses and Lipscomb ties NJIT, both teams would finish the regular season with 16 points. The Eagles hold the tie breaker with a head-to-head win
                                If FGCU loses and Lipscomb loses, FGCU would maintain the one-point lead and win the regular-season championship
 
The Lipscomb –NJIT game is scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 24 in Newark, N.J., while the Eagles and Hatters will face off at 7 p.m.
 
COACH JIM BLANKENSHIP
A veteran of over two decades in collegiate coaching, head coach Jim Blankenship, who was named the 2012 and 2013 A-Sun Coach of the Year as well, has built FGCU women's soccer into a yearly contender in the Atlantic Sun Conference and a rising program in the South Region in just eight seasons. Blankenship, who was recently ranked the no. 6 collegiate coach nationally by AllWhiteKit.com, started the program in 2007 and has since guided the Eagles to eight double-digit win seasons, culminating with Atlantic Sun Regular Season Championships in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014. In 2011 and 2012 he also led the Eagles to back-to-back A-Sun tournament championships and became the first team in the history of the university to make it to the NCAA Tournament. The Eagles then won the 2014 A-Sun tournament and hosted the first NCAA Championship event on campus when it welcomed Auburn in front of a record crowd. Blankenship has guided FGCU to a 111-41-19 (64.2 W%) overall record through the first nine seasons of the program's existence, including a 59-9-10 (74.6 W%) mark in the A-Sun. Blankenship's impressive career record of 351-112-30 (71.0 W%) over 25 seasons has come while leading FGCU, the University of Miami, Lynn University and St. Thomas University.
 
FOLLOW ALONG
For constant, news, photos, videos and updates you can follow the women's soccer team on Twitter @FGCU_WSoccer, on Instagram @FGCU_WSoccer or on Facebook: Facebook.com/FGCUWSoccer. You can also find FGCU athletics on YouTube by visiting YouTube.com/FGCUEagles.
 
#FEEDFGCU
FGCU Athletics sponsors events throughout the year to benefit the FGCU Campus Food Pantry (www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry) and the Harry Chapin Food Bank (www.harrychapinfoodbank.org), FGCU Athletics' charities of choice. For more information, including how to make a contribution, please visit www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.