ORLANDO, Fla. (Nov. 11, 2011) - The FIU women's soccer team fell to the UCF Knights, 2-0, in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday night at the UCF Soccer Complex. The Panthers, making their first tournament appearance in 18 years, finish the 2011 season with a 13-7-3 record, while the Knights advance with a 12-4-5 mark.
UCF was able to maintain possession for the beginning of the match, pressuring early and testing the FIU backline. The Knights broke through for the first goal of the match when Tishia Jewell charged down the field on a counter-attack and fired a shot into the bottom-left corner in the 14th minute.
The Panthers, who were limited to just two shots in the first half, found a bit of a rhythm out of the break as they searched for the equalizer. UCF was able to stave off the Panther attack and netted an insurance goal in the 76th minute. Jewell broke free once again and fired a ball inside the box that was saved by redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Kaitlyn Savage, but Emily Grider was there to score the rebound.
Despite the defeat, the Panthers had a remarkable season and won their second Sun Belt Conference Tournament Championship. This was also the first FIU squad to earn an NCAA Tournament bid since 1993. The Panthers also finished with 13 wins, the second-highest total in school history, and set a single-season school record with 10 shutouts.
The senior class of April Perry, Victoria Miliucci, Melanie Raimo, Katrina Rose, Deana Rossi, Cortney Bergin, Kelly Ann Hutchinson, and Carlan Jones will depart as the third-winningest group in FIU history and with an SBC tournament title.
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, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.
