CANTON, MASSACHUSETTS (September 23, 2017) -- After missing out on the season-opening tournament due to Hurricane Irma, the FIU golf program heads up to the Boston area for its first action of the 2017-18 season, playing in the Boston College Invitational, played at the Blue Hill Country Club in Canton, Massachusetts. The two-day tournament starts with 36 holes on Sunday, September 24, and concludes with a final 18-hole round on Monday.
 
The Panthers are paired with Georgetown and host BC on the first day, going off from holes one through three, in a shotgun start at 8:45 a.m. Since they missed the opening tournament in Kansas, FIU Head Coach Joe Vogel is taking the entire eight-person squad to compete in the event.
 
In the team lineup, will be senior Katerina Krasova (Ricany, Czech Republic), the lone senior on the squad, who will head up the starting five at the event. Her 76.63 stroke average was second-best on the squad last year and the lowest returning average.
 
Sophomores Diana Velez (Dorado, Puerto Rico) and Carolina Rotzinger (Puebla, Mexico) return to the lineup to start the season. Both of these players played in every round for FIU last season as freshmen. Rotzinger was second on the team with five rounds of par or better for the season, while Velez was just one stroke behind Rotzinger for the freshmen lead on the team.
 
A pair of newcomers make their collegiate debut in the lineup for FIU. Carolina Andrade (Bogota, Colombia) and Hannah Leiner (Pompano Beach, Florida / North Broward Prep) both played their prep golf in the state of Florida.
 
The Panthers will also play three individuals. Redshirt sophomore Ana Maria Rengifo (Bogota, Colombia) returns to play, along with freshmen Agueda Cortilla (Barcelona, Spain) and Gabriela Powel (West Palm Beach, Florida / William T. Dwyer), who will both see their first collegiate action this week in Massachusetts.
 
"I enjoy this group a lot," said Vogel. "We are young and have a lot of energy. It's been a tough start to the semester. We are just excited to get on the course and play right now. I am hoping we play well and put it all together on the course."
 
FIU was 86-38 last season and sent an individual to the NCAA Regionals and NCAA Championships earlier this spring.
 
The event will have live results posted at Golfstat.com for both days and all 54 holes. Four talented freshmen join four returning golfers for the upcoming campaign.

#######
 
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 Lime Court at FIU Arena and Riccardo Silva Stadium.
 
About FIU: Florida International University is classified by Carnegie as a "R1: Doctoral Universities - Highest Research Activity" and recognized as a Carnegie Community Engaged university. It is a public research university with colleges and schools that offers bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs in fields such as business, engineering, computer science, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU contributes almost $9 billion each year to the local economy and is ranked second in Florida in Forbes Magazine's "America's Best Employers" list. FIU graduates are consistently among the highest paid college graduates in Florida and are among the leaders of public and private organizations throughout South Florida. 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 with multiple state-of-the-art research facilities including the Wall of Wind Research and Testing Facility, FIU's Medina Aquarius Program and the Advanced Materials Engineering Research Institute.  FIU has awarded more than 220,000 degrees and enrolls more than 54,000 students in two campuses and centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell, FIU@I-75, the Miami Beach Urban Studios, and Tianjin, China. FIU also supports artistic and cultural engagement through its three museums: Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, the Wolfsonian-FIU, and the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU. FIU is a member of Conference USA and more than 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.