MIAMI - Senior Night couldn't be a more fitting description of Friday's game. Senior Marina Pappas connected with classmate and fellow captain Amy Jackson for FIU's game-winning goal in the Golden Panthers' 1-0 win over rival FAU in the final regular season game.
With the victory, FIU (11-5-3, 9-1-1) became the Sun Belt regular season champion and earned the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament.
"Being senior week, being our last home game, being No. 1 in the conference - all these things - it's just crazy. I need to soak it in," Pappas said. "My past three years here, we haven't accomplished anything close to this. I'll always remember this game. It's a perfect ending to the regular season."
FIU battled with FAU for nearly 84 scoreless minutes, and the Golden Panthers put FAU goalie Ashley Lantes to work with eight saves.
The Owls keeper came up big in the first half by tipping Thaisa Moreno's shot from outside the box with 17:20 to go.
Freshman goalkeeper Kaitlyn Savage did her part to earn her fifth shutout of the season. She saved Brianna Kelts' header with over 27 minutes remaining in the game before coming up with another save off a free kick by Janelle Black four minutes later.
The Golden Panthers nearly scored with 18 minutes to go as a cluster formed in front of the net. While on the ground, Jasmine Aleman tried to force in the ball but Lantes got her body in front of it.
Finally, with 6:30 remaining in the game, FIU drew a corner kick. Pappas, who had been practicing her free kicks all week, said she was just focused on inserting the ball into the box. Luckily, Jackson was there on the other end.
"The keeper had it. She fumbled it and there was no way I was giving that up," Jackson said. "I ran in and kicked a right footer and it went in."
The clock ran out and the team huddled at midfield, bouncing up and down with their hands in the air, champions at last.
"It's a fantastic accomplishment," coach Thomas Chestnutt said. "How hard they've played, their self belief - as a young team, the first time you win you can easily become complacent, but they kept their heads down and kept playing hard. It's awesome we're really excited for them because they really deserve it."
The Golden Panthers, who finished sixth in 2008, became the first team in Sun Belt history to jump from sixth to first in consecutive seasons. FIU meets the No. 8 seed at 10 a.m. on Nov. 4 in Boca Raton, Fla., and begins its quest for the school's first tournament championship title since 2000.
