MIAMI (Oct. 2, 2011) - Behind a career-high two goals from freshman Ashleigh Shim, the FIU women's soccer team (7-5-0, 4-0-0 SBC) notched its fifth-consecutive victory with a 2-0 decision over South Alabama (9-2-2, 2-1-1 SBC) on Sunday afternoon at FIU Soccer Stadium. The win keeps FIU unbeaten in the Sun Belt Conference and snaps USA's 10-match unbeaten streak.
"I'm happy with the overall performance. Limiting [South Alabama] to two shots on goal was an incredible team effort," Head Coach Thomas Chestnutt said. "That's two solid defensive games in a row now, and I can't say enough about our team's effort."
After a slow start to the match, the Panthers began to pressure and finally broke through in the 23rd minute. Sophomore Kim Lopez was able to find a seam through the defense to pass the ball to Shim, who took a few dribbles in the box and blasted a goal into the lower-left corner.
"Kim beat a player and I saw an open gap in the box, so I ran forward and she slipped me a great pass," Shim said about her first score of the day. "It felt great to get our team on the board first."
Then late in the second half, Shim found the back of the net once more, connecting on a pass from sophomore Chelsea Leiva in the 85th minute.
"I saw another gap and Chelsea played the ball through two defenders. I touched it to the right of the goalkeeper and took a shot," Shim added.
It was the first multi-goal performance for the freshman, who now has a team-high four scores on the season. Add two assists for Shim on the year and her total points is now a team-best 10.
FIU controlled the ball for most of the contest and held a commanding 19-5 advantage in shots. The Panthers limited the Jaguars to just two shots on goal, both of which were saved by redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Kaitlyn Savage for her fourth shutout of the season.
"We've finally come together and gotten comfortable playing with each other," senior captain Victoria Miliucci said. "We've stayed really focused on each play and not giving the opponent any good chances."
South Alabama entered the match ranked second in the SBC with 28 goals on the season and were shutout for just the second time in 2011.
FIU has now won five-straight matches since losing at Oregon State on Sept. 16. The Panthers are also one win away from matching last season's 5-0-0 start in conference play.
"The OSU game really drove things home for the girls. We hadn't paid attention to the details to get the results we thought we should be getting," Chestnutt said. "Since then, the team has been working harder and harder every game and practice. By no means are we where we want to be yet, but we are getting there."
The Panthers will hit the road for two conference games next week, taking on WKU on Friday, Oct. 7 and Middle Tennessee on Sunday, Oct. 9. Game times are set for 7 p.m. and 2:30 p.m., respectively.
Live stats will be provided at www.FIUSports.com and be sure to follow the Panthers on Twitter (@FIUWomensSoccer) and become a fan on Facebook (www.Facebook.com/FIUWSoccer).
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. Itscolleges 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 in17 sports. In 2010 the Panthers won their first bowl game. For more information about FIU, visithttp://www.fiu.edu/.
