IRVING, Texas (November 5, 2017) – The No. 7 FIU (11-0-4, 6-0-2 C-USA) men's soccer team earned the top seed in the 2017 Conference USA Men's Soccer Championship and will receive the first-round bye after claiming its first C-USA regular-season title. This year's championship will be hosted by No. 2 seed Old Dominion, Nov. 8-12, at the ODU Soccer Complex in Norfolk, Virginia.
Click here for complete Conference USA Tournament bracket.
Click here for C-USA Men's Soccer Championship Central.
The Panthers will face the winner of the tournament's first quarterfinal match between the four seed Charlotte and the five seed New Mexico, on Friday at 4:30 p.m.
"The postseason, it has arrived," said FIU men's soccer Head Coach
Kevin Nylen. "All teams are now playing to win the conference tournament. We are excited about the field and our focus continues to be on preparing for our game on Friday."
FIU and Charlotte played to a 2-2 draw in their meeting on Sept. 23 in Miami. The Panthers, who took the lead just 43 seconds into the match on a goal by
Matias Barraza (Miami, Fla./Doral Academy), allowed the 49ers to score two unanswered goals to take a 2-1 lead, with the second coming in the 56
th-minute.
Santiago Patino (Orlando, Florida/Freedom) didn't waste any time getting the equalizer, doing so in the 58
th-minute.
In its Oct. 21 meeting with New Mexico, FIU handed the Lobos a 4-0 loss at the FIU Soccer Stadium, for the Blue and Gold's seventh-straight win. Four different Panthers found the back of the goal,
Joris Ahlinvi (Gujan-Mestras, France) in the 22
nd-minute, Barraza in the 54
th-minute,
Paul Marie (Saint-Aubin-des-Bois, France/5th Ursule) in the 70
th-minute and
Alessandro Campoy (Port au Prince, Haiti/Immaculate-LaSalle) in the 79
th-minute.
FIU is in the midst of one of its best seasons in school history. The Panthers are 11-0-4 on the year and finished league play 6-0-2. The Panthers closed out the regular-season with a hard-fought 2-2 draw at Kentucky on Oct. 29. FIU got a well-deserved rest last week as the remainder of the league finished their regular season schedule this past weekend.
On the year, Patino leads C-USA in multiple offensive categories, including goals (15), goals-per-game (1.00), points (34) and points-per-game (2.27). He is also tied for first in game-winning goals with two.
Arguably one of the most efficient players in college soccer, he leads the nation in goals-per-game and points-per-game, while tying for second and third in total goals and points, respectively. He is putting up these offensive numbers while averaging just 3.36 shots-per-match, which is 28th in the nation.
FIU's 15-match unbeaten streak is the longest since 1991 when the Panthers went 18-straight without a loss.
The only undefeated team in the league, FIU is also one of just two teams in the country without a loss. The Panthers lead the nation in scoring offense with 3.07 goals-per-game, and are currently third in win-loss-tie percentage (.893).
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 eight different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including Riccardo Silva 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/.
