FORT MYERS, Fla. (fgcuathletics.com) – The FGCU women's soccer team landed four student-athletes on the 2022 United Soccer Coaches Scholar All-South Region teams. Juniors Leah Scarpelli and Louise Lillback and sophomore Ashley Labbe were all named to the second team, while graduate student Katie Sullivan picked up a third-team selection.
Lillback (2020, 2021) and Labbe (2020, 2021) secured their third career Scholar All-Region honors, while Scarpelli and Sullivan picked up their second and first Scholar All-Region nods, respectively. The FGCU women's soccer program also extended its streak to 13 consecutive years with representatives on the Scholar All-Region list and now have 37 total United Soccer Coaches Scholar All-South Region selections.
To be eligible for selection, candidates must be a at least a junior in academic standing and have a cumulative GPA of 3.40 for their career. Players must also have played in at least 75 percent of the season's games, contributed significantly to the team's success and be an elite player as evidenced by athletic accolades for the season.
Of the 42 Division I women's soccer programs represented on the 2022 Scholar All-Region list, only FGCU and Michigan State had at least four honorees.
"We are very happy for these four ladies," head coach Jim Blankenship said. "It is awesome that they are being recognized for not only their hard work on the field, but also their hard work in the classroom."
Scarpelli, the 2022 ASUN Defensive Player of the Year and a 2022 College Soccer News All-American, helped anchor the FGCU defense as she shut down some of the nation's best players all season long. The Integrated Studies major with a 3.93 GPA, also contributed on the offensive end with five goals and a team-leading team six assists.
Lillback, recently named to TopDrawerSoccer's Top 100 National Rankings (No. 84), added another tremendous season to her resume in 2022, leading FGCU with a team-best 21 points and team-high eight goals. A Communications major with a 3.58 GPA, she has scored 34 career goals for the Green & Blue, second-most all-time, while registering the third-highest points total with 77.
After a season-ending injury ended her 2021 campaign, Labbe returned to the field and turned in her best season with the Eagles, collecting 16 points on six goals and four assists and securing an All-ASUN First-Team selection. Labbe, who carries a 3.65 GPA and majors in Health Science, was the lone Eagle with multiple multiple-goal games, netting a pair of goals against both Southern (Aug. 25) and Bellarmine (Oct. 9).
Sullivan, who graduated last weekend with her Master's in Information Systems and Analytics, closed her collegiate career with a tremendous season as she played every minute of every game in goal for the Eagles. An All-ASUN Third-Team selection, Sullivan posted eight clean sheets and allowed just six goals in 10 ASUN games. She made 80 saves in 2022, third-highest total on the FGCU single-season chart, but will be best known for her heroics in the 2022 ASUN Championship. Sullivan made a save in the fifth round of penalties in the title game at Liberty to send FGCU to the NCAA Tournament for the seventh time in program history.
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The ASUN, a Division I conference member of the NCAA, boasts a membership of institutions that share visionary leadership, bold ambition and creative innovation. As a nimble adaptive conference, unafraid to blaze a national pathway for better service to our student-athletes, teams, and institutions, the ASUN has a proud history of firsts, national academic and athletic achievements and a conference culture that walks the walk with its four ASUN Beams. Students First! Rise. Connect. Impact. #ASUNBuilt by Austin Peay (Clarksville, Tenn.), Bellarmine (Louisville, Ky.), Central Arkansas (Conway, Ark.), Eastern Kentucky (Richmond, Ky.), FGCU (Fort Myers, Fla.), Jacksonville (Fla.), Jacksonville State (Jacksonville, Ala.), Kennesaw State (Ga.), Liberty (Lynchburg, Va.), Lipscomb (Nashville, Tenn.), North Alabama (Florence, Ala.), North Florida (Jacksonville, Fla.), Queens (Charlotte, N.C.) and Stetson (DeLand, Fla.).