August 27, 2004

Fourth-year junior Janessa Taddei returned to her first action since 2003 with the Golden Panthers' lone goal in the 2-1 loss to UCF on Friday night.

Box Score

MIAMI – The FIU women's soccer team opened the 2004 athletic calendar with a 2-1 loss to host UCF, Friday evening.

The loss drops FIU to 0-1 on the season and UCF goes to 1-0. In the loss, freshman goalkeeper Madeline Gannon faced 12 shots, made three saves in her FIU debut. Taddei led the Golden Panther attack with three shots, including the goal, in her first action since missing the 2003 season. The Golden Panther lineup also featured Kristin Hurst, Yaneash Donaldson, Chanelle Crosby and Maya Ozery making their first appearances at FIU.

After missing on their first five shots, the Golden Knights' interrupted the scoreless contest as sophomore Shannon Wing scored at 29:55. She was assisted by senior Becca Eshelman and sophomore Jessalyn Withers. The Golden Knights went on to a 7-1 advantage in shots through the first 45 minutes.

In the second 45 minutes, the Golden Panthers' defense withstood three early UCF shots. Trailing 1-0 at the 72:49 mark Golden Panther midfielder Janessa Taddei (Tampa, Fla./Plant HS) took advantage of a defensive breakdown by UCF and tied the game with an unassisted tally.

Following the FIU goal, the UCF coaching staff decided to make four substitutions. Seven minutes later, the substitutions paid off as Jessalyn Withers served the ball on a corner kick to Kate McCain, who fired a shot into the top right corner for the gamewinner.

Up next for FIU is a contest against Florida on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. in Gainesville. The Gators have 19 returners from its 2003 team that turned in a 19-4-2 record and reached the NCAA quarterfinal round. Plus, they are ranked No. 12 on the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) preseason poll. The contest between FIU and Florida will be broadcast live on WRUF-AM 850 and via the Internet at: http://media.yahoo.com/ncaa/sp/fak/