MIAMI (Oct. 22, 2011) - Despite erasing a 3-0 deficit, the FIU men's soccer team fell to the South Carolina Gamecocks by a 4-3 final on Saturday night at FIU Soccer Stadium. Freshman Colby Burdette notched his first-career multi-goal game but a late score ended the FIU comeback.
The Panthers fall to 4-8-3 in 2011 and 1-5-1 in Conference USA play, while the Gamecocks improve to 8-5-1 overall and 5-1-0 in C-USA action.
South Carolina got off to a fast start, scoring in the sixth minute of the contest on a throw in that rattled around in the box before Kevin Stam knocked the ball in.
The Gamecocks struck twice more in the 14th and 21st minute on goals by Mike Mangotic and Bradlee Baladez, respectively, to put FIU in a seemingly unrecoverable hole.
However, the Panthers did not deter as sophomore Nicolas Rodriguez-Fraile took a pass from Burdette and booted it into the upper-right corner in the 33rd minute. FIU scored again just four minutes later when the two players hooked up again, but this time it was Rodriguez-Fraile that provided Burdette with the cross that the freshman drove home.
In the second half, Burdette found the equalizer in the 76th minute as freshman Roberto De Sousa slipped a pass through the defenders on the left side, and Burdette nailed it past the keeper.
With South Carolina pressuring late in the match, Mangotic blasted another shot that was saved by sophomore goalkeeper Eric Reyes, however, the rebound found Braeden Troyer who put USC up for good in the 84th minute.
Both FIU keepers saw action as Reyes relieved freshman Rodney Greiling in the second half. Each goalkeeper made two saves in the contest.
FIU will return to the pitch on Oct. 29 against UAB in Birmingham, Ala. The Panthers will then wrap up the regular season in Miami on Nov. 4 against Florida Gulf Coast at 7 p.m.
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/.
