MIAMI (August 19, 2016) – The No. 23-ranked FIU men's soccer team closed out the exhibition portion of its schedule on Friday night with a 2-1 loss to Palm Beach Atlantic University at the FIU Soccer Stadium.
The Panthers, who dropped a hard-fought 1-0 decision in its exhibition opener on Monday at No. 19 USF, dominated most of the night. FIU was outshot slightly by the Sailfish, 6-5, and took three of the seven corner kicks on the night.
Like in the match against USF, the Panthers substituted frequently during the contest with 23 players seeing the pitch, including three of the four goalkeepers.
Arthur Clapot and
Daniel Gagliardi each accounted for the Panthers two saves.
The first half proved to be a battle of control with each team sharing equal time in the opposition's end of the field.
The Sailfish got on the board first, in the 21
st minute, when Kebba Nyang took a cross from Juan Pablo Puelma from the left side of the 18 and put it high in the top right corner beating Clapot to make the score 1-0.
Palm Beach Atlantic then picked up another goal in the 42
nd minute when Fredo Dilbert recovered a rebound from his own shot and chipped it in to put the Sailfish up 2-0.
In the second half the Panthers had a quality chance in the 67
th minute when
Jamar Campion-Hinds crossed the ball into the middle of the 18 to
Luca Giovine only to have his shot deflected by a Palm Beach Atlantic defender.
Seven minutes later in the 74
th minute,
Nicholas Midttun fired a low liner from 20 yards out that was saved by Sailfish keeper Fernando Cortes.
FIU finally broke through when
Juan Benedetty, who had returned to the game just moments before, took a pass from Inigo Sargarduy and beat Cortes on the right side in the 82
nd minute.
The Panthers kept their offensive attack going and had an opportunity to tie the game in the 87
th minute when Benedetty served a pass into the box and had shots from Sagarduy and Giovine deflected and saved, respectively.
FIU will now turn its attention to the regular season as the Panthers officially kick off its 2016 campaign on Aug. 26 at 5 p.m. against Furman University during the first day of the Nike/Aaron Olitsky Memorial Soccer Classic, hosted by the College of Charleston. They will then face the host Cougars on Aug. 28 at 2:30 p.m.
The Panthers' home opener will be on Sept. 2 when they welcome Wisconsin to the FIU Soccer Stadium for a 7 p.m. match, followed by Niagara on Sept. 4 at 2 p.m.
Fans are encouraged to follow the Panthers on Twitter (@FIUMensSoccer) and become a fan on Facebook (Facebook.com/FIUMensSoccer) for all the latest Men's Soccer news. Follow all of FIU's 18 athletic teams on Twitter (@FIUAthletics), Facebook (Facebook.com/FIUSports), YouTube (FIUPanthers), and Instagram (FIUathletics).
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About FIU Athletics: FIU Athletics is home to more than 400 student-athletes in 18 different sports. Athletic events are played in seven different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including FIU Arena and Ocean Bank Field at FIU Stadium.
About FIU: Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. It is a public research university with colleges and schools that offer 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 $8.9 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/.
