MIAMI (August 18, 21016) - FIU women's soccer begins the 2016 season Friday night with a road contest at Stetson, beginning at 7 p.m. from the Athletic Training Center in Deland, Florida.
 
The Panthers are coming off an 8-11 season in 2015, five of those wins coming in shutout fashion. FIU was just 1-8 on the road last year, beating Miami 1-0 in Coral Gables in September. The Panthers put up back-to-back 2-0 results in a pair of exhibition games during the preseason training period.
 
The Hatters are coming off a 10-win season in 2015, advancing to the Atlantic Sun Conference tournament semifinals a year ago. Stetson outscored opponents 8-1 in its pair of preseason games in 2016.
 
FIU owns a 16-5-1 mark in the 22-game all-time series with the Hatters. That includes an 8-2 mark at Stetson in the series. Stetson defeated FIU 2-0 in the second game of last season in Deland.
 
The Panthers return 13 goals from their 21 scored in 2015 and both keepers who played all of the minutes a season ago. FIU added nine talented freshmen to the squad that has started a defensive trend and features a young group eager to begin the 2016 campaign.
 
Senior Alyssa Robinson (Pembroke Pines, Florida / American Heritage HS) is one of the goal scorers tied for the team lead in goals from last year that is on the active roster. Senior Talia McMurtrie (Lancaster, Pennsylvania) also contributed five points last season and is back. Goalkeepers Nevena Stojakovic (Nis, Serbia) and Sophia Trujillo (Miami, Florida / Gulliver Prep / San Diego State) are expected to anchor the back line and keep communication with the defenders sharp during games. They combined to allow teams to score just 1.58 goals per contest in 2015.
 
Following Friday night's tilt, the Panthers head to Tampa to prepare for a Sunday 3 p.m. match at USF, which is receiving votes in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Preseason Poll.
 
Live video and statistics are available for Friday's game at FIUSports.com.
  
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About FIU Athletics: FIU Athletics is home to more than 400 student-athletes in 18 different sports, and is a proud member of Conference USA. Athletic events are played in seven different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including FIU Arena and the FIU Football Stadium.

About FIU: Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. It is a public research university with colleges and schools that offers more than 180 bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU contributes $9.8 billion each year to the local economy. FIU is Worlds Ahead in finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission. FIU has awarded over 200,000 degrees and enrolls more than 54,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell, FIU@I-75, and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. FIU also supports artistic and cultural engagement through its three museums: the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, the Wolfsonian-FIU, and the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU. FIU is a member of Conference USA and has over 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.