Soccer teams finish with strong efforts

FGCU men's soccer team had a successful run in conference play last week. The team hosted a conference game on Thursday against Mercer and another on Saturday against Campbell.

The men defeated Mercer 2-1 in a thrilling second half.

FGCU goals came from Scott Harrison in the 47th minute and Jonathan Koshko in the 58th minute. Mercer got on the board late in the game, but the Eagles were able to hold off the Bears.

The Eagles got a huge 4-0 win over Campbell Saturday, ending the nation's longest unbeaten streak in regular season conference play. Campbell has not suffered a loss in A-Sun regular season match since 2007.

Goal scorers were Koshko in the 16th minute, Jelani Smith in the 24th and Caleib Lynch in the 60th and 86th.

The much needed win will be a huge factor in how the A-Sun teams will finish.

FGCU stands in first place in the A-Sun, but have a huge obstacle to overcome; the men will play away against second place Stetson on Nov. 1.

Campbell and Stetson are both tied for second in a very close race behind FGCU. The men will need a little bit of help from Campbell's competitors in the next two matches to seal first.

If the men can step up and play Stetson the way they did against Campbell, then a victory will be in tow.

The women's 2009 soccer season has officially wrapped up after the women hosted a duo of conference games this past weekend and came out with two impressive wins.

The women defeated East Tennessee State 3-0 Friday. The win put the women in third place in the A-Sun.

"This was a big win," head coach Jim Blankenship said on the FGCU Web site."We came out aggressive and it really paid off. It was an all around good match, we played great defense and created many opportunities offensively."

The Eagles' goals came from Gina Petracco in the 22nd minute and McCall in the 38th minute and again in 45th from a PK. The Eagles outshot the Bucs 20-3.

FGCU turned around on Sunday to close out its season against USC Upstate.

The women manhandled the Spartans on Senior Day with a 10-0 victory.

The Eagles said goodbye to seniors Amber McCall and Emily Barret, who have both been with the soccer program since it started back in 2007.

"This was a very special day," Blankenship said on the Web site."Amber and Emily have helped this program get to where it is today.

"Their hard work and dedication on and off the field will be hard to replace."

The Eagles finished the season in third place, just one point behind Belmont and Kennesaw State, but are not eligible for A-Sun Tournament play during the NCAA reclassifying period.

FGCU finished fifth in the conference in total goals, while McCall finished her season with 21 points and tied for third with most goals.

The women finished with an overall record 11-5-3 and a 6-2-2 A-Sun finish.