MONROE, La. (Oct. 20, 2011) - The FIU women's soccer team cruised to a 3-0 victory over the ULM Warhawks on Tuesday evening in its final regular-season road contest. With the win, the Panthers (10-6-1) clinched their seventh 10-win season in program history and improved to 7-1-1 in the Sun Belt Conference.
"The girls handled the travel well and were very motivated and focused to play right from the beginning," Head Coach Thomas Chestnutt said. "We did a good job of finishing the game off and we finished some opportunities. Even though we left some chances on the table, we are getting better and I'm very happy with the result."
The Panthers got off to a quick start, scoring all three goals within a span of seven minutes in the first half.
Sophomore Kim Lopez (3) got the scoring started in the 13th minute when sophomore Chelsea Leiva dumped the ball back into the box after a free kick, finding Lopez who booted it to the right side of the goal.
"We went out hard and were trying to get the momentum going early," Lopez said. "We broke through the defense several times so we knew we needed to score."
Then just two minutes later, FIU lined up for a corner kick but saw the ball sail over the box. Freshman Sara Stewart was there to clean up and sent the ball back in for a header by senior Victoria Miliucci. The ULM keeper made the save initially but the rebound bounced back to Miliucci, who capitalized on the second opportunity for her second goal of the season.
The final score of the contest came in the 20th minute when Leiva (3) took a pass from Lopez and chipped it over a charging keeper.
FIU held the Warhawks scoreless as the Panthers recorded their program-record-tying eighth shutout of the season. Reigning SBC Player of the Week Kaitlyn Savage made three saves and notched her seventh shutout of the season, tying a program record for a single season.
Not only was it the seventh 10-win season in program history for FIU, but it's the first time in school history that the Panthers have won at least 10 games in three consecutive seasons.
"I think it speaks volumes for what the girls have been able to achieve," Chestnutt said. "They've been steadily building a culture of success and pushing to play at a higher level. Players have been stepping up in injuries and that's the kind of culture we're trying to develop. It's great but we have more work to do."
FIU has won 11 games in each of the past two seasons and have a chance to surpass that mark with two games remaining.
"It feels awesome that I was able to be a part of bringing the program to where it is now," Miliucci said. "When choosing a school, I thought it would be great to be part of a school that's building and that's what we've done here."
The Panthers have two games left in the regular season and both are home tilts. FIU will return to the pitch on Sunday, Oct. 23, for a noon contest against Louisiana. The final match of the season will be on Friday, Oct. 28, against FAU at 7:30 p.m.
"These next two games are really important heading into the conference tournament," Leiva said. "We think we have a great chance and confidence in each other that we'll make it far but we have to get through these two games first."
For ticket information to FIU home matches, call the FIU Ticket Office at 305-FIU-GAME or log onto www.FIUSports.com.
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 in17 sports. In 2010 the Panthers won their first bowl game. For more information about FIU, visithttp://www.fiu.edu/.
