MIAMI (June 29, 2017) – Coming off its second Conference USA (C-USA) Tournament Championship appearance, first-year FIU men's soccer Head Coach Kevin Nylen announced the Panthers' 2017 schedule on Thursday afternoon. This year's slate should, once again, prepare FIU for the postseason. Six of the Panthers' foes on this year's schedule – in-state non-conference opponents USF and Florida Gulf Coast, and C-USA foes Kentucky, Charlotte, New Mexico and South Carolina – advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 2016.

Click here for complete 2017 schedule.
 
"We are very excited for the 2017 season," said Nylen. "We play in one of the top soccer conferences in the country in C-USA along with a strong non-conference schedule. As a group we are looking forward to August and to get back to working hard in preparation for the 2017 season."
 
FIU will begin its 2017 regular season campaign with a trip to Columbus, Ohio, to take part in the 12th-Annual Bert & Iris Wolstein Classic, hosted by Ohio State University. The Panthers will face James Madison on August 25 before taking on the host Buckeyes two days later on August 27.
 
Following its trip to the Midwest, FIU will open the home portion of its schedule with three-straight matches at the FIU Soccer Stadium, beginning with weekend outings against New Jersey Institute of Technology on Sept. 1 and the College of Charleston on Sept. 3. The Panthers close out the trio of home matches on Sept. 8, when they open C-USA play against Old Dominion.
 
The Blue and Gold will then play three of their next five matches away from home, starting at UCF on Sept. 12, and then traveling to UAB on Sept. 17. After returning home to take the pitch against Charlotte and North Florida on Sept. 23 and Sept. 26, respectively, FIU will close out the five-match run as it heads up Interstate-95 for a Sept. 30, meeting with C-USA rival Florida Atlantic. 
 
After Marshall visits Miami to battle the Panthers on Oct. 7, FIU will begin the most daunting part of its regular season schedule. Whereas the Panthers opened the season with three of their first five matches at home, FIU will close out its 2017 regular season ledger with four-out-of-five matches on the road, and with all five coming against postseason teams from a year ago.  

The Panthers will begin the five-match stretch as they head across Alligator Alley to Fort Myers, to butt heads with Florida Gulf Coast on Oct. 10, before traveling to the Palmetto State to face South Carolina on Sept. 14.

FIU closes out its non-conference schedule at USF on Oct. 17 before returning home for Senior Night against New Mexico on Oct. 21.

The Panthers will end their regular season on Oct. 29 at Kentucky.
 
This year's Conference USA Tournament will take place Nov. 8-12 in Norfolk, Virginia, with FIU looking to advance to its third consecutive C-USA championship match. 
 
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/.