Denton, Texas ? Senior Valerie Patrick (Littleton, Colo.) scored her first goal of the season in the 85th minute for the Florida International University women's soccer team as the Golden Panthers fell to defending Sun Belt Champions North Texas, 5-1, in conference action Friday evening in Denton, Texas.
Dani Slavonic opened the scoring for the Mean Green (7-2-2, 3-0 Sun Belt) with a deflection from 10 yards out in the 21st minute.
North Texas, up 1-0 at halftime, scored three goals inside of five minutes early in the second half to break the game open. Julie Radford scored after picking up a loose ball in the box in the 53rd minute. Heather Hutyra and Kristen Campbell then scored 80 seconds apart in the 56th and 58th minutes, respectively, to give the Mean Green a 4-0 lead.
Hutyra then added a fifth with a 25-yard free kick in the 78th minute.
Patrick spoiled the shutout with a shot from the top right side of the penalty area with 5:45 remaining to make it a 5-1 match.
Despite the scoreline, FIU (2-7, 0-3 Sun Belt) outshot the Mean Green 16-12, held a 6-2 advantage in corners, and forced North Texas to make eight saves. Starting goalkeeper Kandice Ellis made a game-high seven saves in just over 81 minutes of action for the Mean Green, while backup Melanie Peterson made one. Junior Madeline Gannon (Ft. Myers, Fla.) made four stops for the Golden Panthers.
FIU returns to action Sunday when they travel to face Denver at 1 p.m. (Eastern).
