FORT MYERS, Fla. — For the Bellarmine University women's soccer team, a regular season steeped in milestones was certainly sweet.

But one game in, the postseason has already taken the cake.

On Thursday night at FGCU Soccer Complex, Gold Division four-seed Bellarmine sent shockwaves through the ASUN as the Knights pulled off a colossal and commanding 3-1 upset of Graphite Division top-seed FGCU in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament.

The epic victory was the program's first ever in the ASUN Championship, although Bellarmine (11-5-3) had twice before advanced in penalty-kick shootouts in postseason contests that were officially designated as draws. The Knights took down an FGCU squad (11-5-2) that went 8-1-1 in ASUN play and was riding an eight-game unbeaten streak that included seven victories by two or more goals.

Thursday evening was actually the second time in the D1 era that Bellarmine has been able to conjure up magic against the Eagles as a heavy underdog in the postseason. At the same site in the 2021 ASUN quarterfinals, the West Division four-seed Knights followed a 1-1 draw with East Division one-seed FGCU by ousting the Eagles 4-3 in a PK shootout.

The 2025 edition of the Knights now joins the 2021 iteration in advancing to the semifinals, where Bellarmine, which has never made a title game appearance, will meet Graphite Division three-seed North Florida at 1 p.m. (ET) Sunday at FGCU. The Ospreys topped Gold Division two-seed Eastern Kentucky 1-0.

Sophomore midfielder Brynn Severance and senior forward Lucy von Stefenelli both scored rebound goals in the first half, and when sophomore forward McKenzie Carle located the net first in the second stanza, the rout was officially on. The three goals are Bellarmine's most this season against an ASUN counterpart.

Bellarmine may have been buoyed by the fact that the Knights were fighting for their postseason lives with three games remaining in the regular season and have been in playoff mode ever since. BU surged to its second straight ASUN Championship berth by going 2-0-1, including a victory over then-ASUN unbeaten and ultimate Gold Division champion and top seed Lipscomb.

In doing so in the first season under head coach Steve Bornhoffer, Bellarmine has now more than doubled its previous D1-era high in wins with 11. The Knights' program-record seven road wins are more than the team posted from 2020-24 combined.

Bellarmine first struck against FGCU in the 14th minute. Carle chipped a shot that deflected off the fingertips of the Eagles' leaping goalkeeper. Severance pounced on the rebound and tucked it into the net for her second goal of the season.

In the 30th minute, it was von Stefenelli who was Johnny-on-the-spot. Redshirt junior midfielder Dakota Bramer made a breathtaking move and strike from the top of the box that FGCU's goalkeeper may have gotten a hand on. The shot deflected off the right post and then pinballed off the left post. von Stefenelli was all over the second ricochet, blasting it into the net for her sixth goal of the season.

For all intents and purposes, Carle put the game away on her 10th goal of the season. In the 64th minute, after von Stefenelli barely missed a brace with a shot off the post, Carle had an opening from 16 yards out and slotted a shot inside the far post for an emphatic 3-0 lead.

FGCU broke up the shutout bid with less than five minutes remaining, but Bellarmine didn't allow another threat as the Knights did an astute job of bleeding the clock and negating any further Eagles momentum.

There was a high shot count in the contest, as FGCU finished with a 22-18 edge in total attempts while the Knights were on the favorable side of a 12-10 outcome on frame. Redshirt freshman goalkeeper Anna Jenkins corralled nine saves for BU.

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