MIAMI (Oct. 1, 2011) - On Sunday afternoon before the current FIU men's soccer team hosts Conference USA foe Kentucky, FIU will honor the 1996 Panthers men's soccer team, which finished that season as the national runner-up. The team will be recognized at halftime of the noon EST match.
It has been 15 years since the 1996 Panthers reached the national championship game against St. John's where they lost 4-1 to the Red Storm. FIU defeated Charlotte 4-0 in the Final Four before playing St. John's for the national title.
FIU entered the 1996 NCAA Tournament that season as the No. 2 seed and ran past USF, 6-1, and Rutgers, 2-0, in the first two rounds of the tournament. The Panthers reached the Final Four in Richmond, Va. after defeating three-time national champion Indiana 1-0. FIU men's soccer won two Division II National Championships in 1982 and 1984.
The 2011 FIU men's soccer team (3-4-2, 0-1-0) is looking for its first conference victory this season after dropping its C-USA opening match 2-1 to Marshall last week. The Panthers enter the match averaging 1.44 goals-per-contest, taking 17.7 shots and owning a 1.33 goals-against average. FIU is led offensively by freshman Quentin Albrecht, who has four goals and two assists, while senior Lucas Di Croce has three goals and two assists. Freshman Colby Burdette adds a goal and two assists, with Sebastian Frings, Nicholas Rodriguez-Fraile and Jahbari Willis scoring a goal apiece. Sophomore keeper Eric Reyes has started all nine games, totaling a 1.43 goals-against average with 29 saves, allowing 14 goals.
In its latest Conference USA top-20 player rankings, topdrawersoccer.com ranks Albrecht as C-USA's 11th best player, while junior Anthony Hobbs comes in at No. 17.
Kentucky (7-4-1, 0-1-0 C-USA) is coming off a 2-1 overtime loss at No. 10 Central Florida on Wednesday and the trip to FIU wraps up a stretch that has seen the Wildcats travel over 9,700 miles in a 15-day span.
For ticket information to FIU home matches, call the FIU Ticket Office at 305-FIU-GAME or log onto www.FIUSports.com. Fans can follow @FIUMensSoccer on Twitter for home match updates. You can also find us on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/FIUMensSoccer.
About FIU Athletics: FIU Athletics is home to more than 400 student-athletes in 17 different sports, and is a proud member of the Sun Belt Conference and an affiliate member of Conference USA (men's soccer). Athletic events are played in seven different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including U.S. Century Bank Arena and Alfonso Field at FIU Stadium.
About FIU: Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. Its colleges and schools offer more than 180 bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU is worlds ahead in its local and global engagement, finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission and enrolls 46,000 students in two campus and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. More than 140,000 alumni live and work in South Florida. FIU is a member of the Sun Belt Conference and has 400 student-athletes participating in 17 sports. In 2010 the Panthers won their first bowl game. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.
