Huntington, W.Va. - Florida International picked up its first conference win of the season with a 3-1 victory on the road against Marshall in a Conference USA men's soccer match Wednesday evening in which the match was delayed twice for a total of approximately two hours due to lightning and hail in the area. 

A trio of first-half unassisted strikes proved the difference for the Golden Panthers, who improved to 5-6-2 on the year and 1-3 in C-USA.  Marshall fell to 3-7-1 and 0-3 in conference. 

Senior defender Chris Handy (Austin, Texas) scored the first in the 12 minute with a 40-yard floater which caught Herd goalkeeper Greg Walter off-guard.  Senior David Hope (North Tyneside, England) and freshman Christian Caporaletti (Miami, Fla./American) later scored less than four minutes apart from each other near the end of the half.  Hope scored on a hard 20-yard shot off the post in the 37^th minute, while Caporaletti used a bending free kick to put FIU up 3-0 on the 40-minute mark. 

Kolby Lacrone pulled one goal back for the Herd in the 55^th minute from 10 yards out off the assist from Jeff Lenix. 

Senior goalkeeper Shawn Crowe (Aurora, Colo.) made a game-high six saves for FIU. 

The Golden Panthers return home for a Conference USA match against Memphis on Sunday at 1 p.m.