CHICAGO - The 2010 FIU men's soccer team (1-0) passed an early test on the road with flying colors, outlasting the University of Illinois-Chicago Flames (0-1) in a double overtime thriller Friday evening at Flames Field in Chicago, Ill.
"It was a great win. A total team effort," said head coach Munga Eketbi. "We had a lot of players who missed most of preseason and training camp and for us to come out and pick up a big win like this on the road means things can only get better from here."
Newcomer and North Carolina Wesleyan College transfer Michael Mühseler (Garbsen, Germany) made an immediate impact by scoring in the 102nd minute on a breakaway from midfield with the UIC defenders on their heels to give the Panthers a 1-0 victory in their first regular-season contest of the season.
The sophomore isn't a stranger when it comes to putting the ball in the net. Last season at Wesleyan, he was named the USA South Athletic Conference Rookie of the Year after leading the conference in points (34) and goals (14), including two game winners.
Senior goalkeeper Shane Lopez (Scarborough, Canada) was masterful between the posts, saving all five shots that came his way in route to his first-career shutout. The win was Lopez' third of his FIU career.
"He (Lopez) came up with some big saves and answered the bell whenever it was needed," added Eketbi.
Seven newcomers saw action in the double overtime victory to go along with eight retuning players, including Diego Tamburus (Campinas, Brazil), who had one of FIU's four shots on goal.
The Panthers will continue their Chicago swing when they take on the DePaul Blue Demons on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. ET. at Wish Field at Cacciatore Stadium. The matchup is the first between the two schools.
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