FORT MYERS, Fla. – For the fourth time in the program's five years of postseason eligibility, the FGCU women's soccer team earned a position in the 64-team NCAA Division I Tournament field, as announced by the NCAA Monday afternoon. The Eagles will travel just 145 miles north to take on USF Saturday, Nov. 14 with a 1 p.m. kickoff at Corbett Soccer Stadium.
 
The Bulls are a familiar foe for the Green and Blue as the teams met during the regular season in 2014 and have faced off multiple times in exhibition play. The Eagles fell in Tampa by a 1-0 count in the only countable contest a season ago.  The Eagles are also familiar with the Bulls' home stadium as the team earned wins over Mississippi State and LIU Brooklyn earlier this season as part of the USF Soccer Classic.
 
"I think everyone's excited about the draw," said head coach Jim Blankenship. "We're close to home, our fans and Dirty Birds will get the chance to come up to see us play, our family and friends will be there so we're excited for the opportunity."
 
The Eagles open 2015 NCAA Tournament play riding an eight-game win streak dating back to Oct. 4 and are unbeaten in their last 10 games. The team constructed an 11-5-2 record during the regular season and captured its sixth-straight Atlantic Sun Regular Season Title with a 6-0-1 record in conference play. The Green and Blue improved to 13-5-2 with two convincing victories in the A-Sun Conference Championship and earned the league's automatic bid with a 5-0 championship win against no. 2 Lipscomb Sunday afternoon. Following the A-Sun Championship win, the Eagles improved to 73 in the NCAA's official RPI.
 
USF earns its third overall and second-straight NCAA Tournament appearance after a historic season that saw a program-record 15 wins. The Bulls are 15-3-3 after falling to Cincinnati in penalty kicks during the American Athletic Conference Tournament championship match. USF held a top-25 ranking for the final six weeks of the season, finishing the year at No. 25 and received an at large bid to the NCAA Tournament this season with an official RPI of 11.
 
"They're a good team," noted Blankenship. "They've had a great season. They've been ranked for the majority of the season and they'll be more than a handful for us but we're comfortable because we've seen them and we know this team pretty well."
 
FGCU is 0-3 all-time in its three previous NCAA Tournament matches, having dropped a heartbreaking 1-0 loss to Auburn at home last season and previously falling in back-to-back years to Florida in Gainesville. The 2014 NCAA Tournament matchup with the Tigers stands as FGCU's first and only hosted NCAA Tournament event and holds the FGCU Soccer Complex attendance record at 2,014.
 
In their third career NCAA Tournament game, seniors Ally Kasun (Lancaster, Pa./Hempfield High School), Brittany Brown (Rochester, N.Y./Greece Athena High School), Emma Blackwell (Jenks, Okla./Jenks High School), Kaitlin Parker (Palm Harbor, Fla./Clearwater Central Catholic) and Shea Rhoney (Lithia, Fla./Newsome High School) will look to lead the Eagles to the program's first NCAA Tournament win.
 
With a win in Tampa, the Eagles would move on to face the winner of third-seeded Duke and James Madison who play Friday, Nov. 13 at 7 p.m. The second round is slated for Nov. 20 with second-seeded Florida as the host.
 
Thirty two First Round games will be conducted at non-predetermined campus sites between Nov. 13 and 15 with eight on-campus locations hosting four-teams for the Second and Third Rounds the following weekend. The Quarterfinals will take place at campus sites Nov. 27 or 28 before the tournament shifts to Cary, N.C. for the Women's College Cup, Dec. 4 and 6.
 
Complete information on the matchup, including ticket information, will be available via FGCUAthletics.com later this week.
 
COACH JIM BLANKENSHIP
A veteran of over two decades in collegiate coaching, head coach Jim Blankenship, who was named the A-Sun Coach of the Year in 2012, 2013, 2014 and now 2015, 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 nine seasons. Blankenship, who was ranked the no. 6 collegiate coach nationally by AllWhiteKit.com to begin the year, started the program in 2007 and has since guided the Eagles to nine double-digit win seasons, culminating with Atlantic Sun Regular Season Championships in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and now 2015. 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 went on to win the 2014 A-Sun tournament and host the first NCAA Championship event on campus. The Eagles earned their fourth NCAA Tournament appearance with the 2015 A-Sun Tournament Championship. Blankenship has guided FGCU to a 114-41-19 (65.3 W%) overall record through the first nine seasons of the program's existence, including a 60-9-10 (76.2 W%) mark in the A-Sun. Blankenship's impressive career record of 354-112-30 (71.3 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.