On a night filled with the emotion of seeing its first four-year class play its final game Saturday, the FGCU women’s soccer team captured its first-ever Atlantic Sun Conference regular season title with a convincing 4-0 win over in-state rival Stetson at the FGCU Soccer Complex.

“What a great night. Just so much emotion with senior night, the kids that started our program,” said FGCU coach Jim Blankenship. “Four years ago we had nothing and to be able to finish it with a championship is something you can only dream of. I’m so proud of our team. They worked so hard to get to this point and it was a really special night.”

Entering the game two points behind Jacksonville (8-1-1) in the A-Sun standings and faced with a must-win situation in order to win the title, the Eagles took a 1-0 lead into the half and added three goals in the second half to surpass the Dolphins by one point. The Eagles finished with 26 points, while Jacksonville had 25.

The 10-member senior class, which helped lead FGCU to an 11-4-2 overall record and unbeaten 8-0-2 record in the A-Sun, played the final six minutes and 11 seconds of their careers together until the final horn sounded.

After finishing one point from claiming a share of the A-Sun regular season crown in 2009, FGCU holds the 11th unblemished conference record in A-Sun history and the sixth since the A-Sun left divisions following the 1998 season.

The dominating defensive effort was a fitting end to the season for a veteran backline that posted a program-record 11 shutouts en route to a conference title. FGCU shutout eight of its 10 A-Sun opponents this year, out-scoring them 17-2.

Despite winning the conference title, FGCU cannot compete in the postseason tournament due to the NCAA reclassifying period. The Eagles will be eligible for postseason play in 2011.