Bishop Verot grad Kendal Gargiula shining in sophomore season with FGCU women’s soccer

More time on the pitch means more opportunities for FGCU sophomore forward Kendal Gargiula to shine. And she’s done just that for her sophomore season for the Eagles.

Gargiula has been on the attack. She leads the team 7 goals.

“Kind of just being in the right position at the right time,’ Gargiula said. “A lot of my goals are like not really fancy goals. They’re kind of scrappy goals. So I’m just there at the right time.”

“We saw in the spring you know she’s capable of big things and it’s carried over,” FGCU head coach Jim Blankenship. “You know her drive her habits are ultimately taken her to a new step.”

Gargiula only had one goal in her freshman year. So, her play in year two has given her a lot of confidence.

“She’s a kid that’s going to face you up,” Blankenship said. “Go at you. She’s also a kid that’s going to hunt the box quite well. So she’s been very good inside the 18 for us. She’s scored some goals on scrambles. So there’s a lot to her game that’s translated to us being successful.”

Gargiula played in 20 games as a freshman, but never heard her named called in the starting lineup. This year, the Bishop Verot grad started in every game. She knows that comes with responsibility.

“I have to be a leader towards the freshman,” Gargiula said. “It’s a lot different than what’s I was doing last year.”

The Eagles enter the ASUN Conference Tournament as the defending champs. They’re the third seed and play the winner of Thursday’s Kennesaw State and Austin Peay match at home on Sunday.

“I know we can do it because we did last year,” Gargiula said. “We can do it again this year.”