MIAMI (Nov. 2, 2011) - The FIU women's soccer team (12-6-2) kicked off the Sun Belt Conference Tournament with a 2-0 triumph over Arkansas State (7-10-3) on Wednesday afternoon in Murfreesboro, Tenn. Sophomore Kim Lopez and senior April Perry tallied the goals for FIU in the first half.
"This was a solid tournament-style win for us," Head Coach Thomas Chestnutt said. "We took chances and played ugly, but we were able to come away with the win."
The Panthers were able to hold off early pressure from the Red Wolves and broke through for the first goal of the match in the 21st minute. Freshman Ashleigh Shim, who was just named SBC Freshman of the Year, broke through the defense and slipped a cross to Lopez who put it in for her fifth goal of the season.
"I think going out we knew we had to score early and get the momentum going," Lopez. said "We took care of it in the first half and played hard to finish it."
FIU added an insurance goal 15 minutes later when a free kick was awarded to the Panthers from about 40 yards out. Perry took the kick and the ball sailed over the defense and off the top corner for her fourth goal in 2011.
The FIU defense and redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Kaitlyn Savage made the scores stand, turning in the team's eighth shutout of the year. Savage made three saves as the Red Wolves managed just seven shots on the FIU defense.
"We definitely had a better first half and we wanted to put the game away as fast as possible," senior Kelly Ann Hutchinson said. "After that, it was just a matter of getting control of the ball and keeping possession."
FIU now makes it consecutive seasons with postseason victories for just the third time in program history, having defeated Troy in the first round of the SBC Tournament a season ago. The last instance came during the 2000-01 campaigns.
The Panthers will return to the pitch on Thursday evening at 5 p.m. EST to face the winner of Denver and South Alabama in the tournament semifinals.
All tournament games can be seen live via web stream courtesy of the Sun Belt. To sign-up for the live stream, visit www.SunBeltSports.org. Fans can also follow the FIU women's soccer team (@FIUWomensSoccer) on Twitter for live updates.
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/.
