Box Score MIAMI (Oct. 12, 2012) – Junior Crystal McNamara scored her first goal of the season in the 85th minute to give the FIU women's soccer team a 2-1 victory over the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns (7-8-1, 1-4-1 SBC) on Friday evening at the FIU Soccer Stadium.

"Every team in this conference brings something different to the table," Head Coach Thomas Chestnutt said. "Louisiana came in with a plan to make our lives difficult and they did a good job of that. Our team was a little shaky early in the second half. But then we found a way to get back into the game with a goal five minutes after they scored.
When you go down in a game that you feel you should win, all kinds of crazy things can happen. But the team kept their nerve, stayed together, and found a way to win."
"I'm just happy that I could give my best tonight and be a factor in tonight's victory," McNamara said. "My main goal, coming off of the bench, was to make runs forward and try and create scoring chances. It felt really good to win the game for my team."

With the score tied a 1-1, junior Page Covington sent a cross into the area where sophomore Ashleigh Shim flicked a header towards the goal from three-yards out. Shim's header settled in front of the goal where McNamara tapped it in for the eventual game-winning goal. Both Shim and Covington were credited with assists on the play.

"Crystal's game-winner showed a great will to want to score a goal," Chestnutt said. "She ran through defenders, possibly colliding with the goalkeeper to win the ball and score the goal. She put her body at risk for the team. It was a great goal."

"I come into every game with the mindset that I will play my best, no matter how many minutes I get," said Covington. "Coming off the bench does not affect me. I've started games and I've come off of the bench and I play hard in whatever role my team needs me in. For us to come back like that shows a lot of heart and resilience. We are going to need that if we are to battle for the top spot in the conference."

The Panthers (7-5-2, 4-1-1 SBC) had a number of chances in the first half of getting on the board, out-shooting the Ragin' Cajuns 13-6. However, no goals were scored as both teams went into halftime tied a 0-0.

"We had some early opportunities that we didn't take advantage of and I think that gave them (Louisiana) confidence going into halftime at 0-0," Chestnutt said.
FIU fell behind, 1-0, in the 62nd minute when Louisiana's Kim Moreau scored her first goal of the season. On a corner kick by Hayden Gibson, Moreau flicked a header past FIU goalkeeper Kaitlyn Savage to give the Ragin' Cajuns the advantage.

The Panthers responded five minutes later as sophomore Scarlett Montoya scored her sixth goal of the season in the 67th minute. The native of Miami battled her way through the Louisiana defense, dribbling the ball along the baseline. From just outside of the six-yard box, Montoya struck a shot, far post, past Ragin' Cajun keeper Amanda
Moorefield to tie teammate Chelsea Leiva for the team lead in goals scored. With the goal, Montoya has now scored in two-straight games and has notched at least one point in three-straight.

"It was great composure by Scarlett in the box, maneuvering past the defender and calmly slipping it into the back corner," Chestnutt said.

McNamara's goal in the 85th minute gave the Panthers their first lead of the game; a lead in which FIU would hold onto for the team's seventh victory of the year.

"It didn't quite sink in until after the play that I had scored," McNamara said. "During the play, time seemed to slow down and I saw the ball come into play. I just pushed forward with the intent of getting the go-ahead goal. I am just thrilled to have been able to come through when my team needed me the most."

"It is great to see two players come off of the bench to combine for that goal," Chestnutt said. "We count on all of our players. Every player on this team has to be ready to go if we want to accomplish our goals at the end of the season."

For the game, FIU held an 18-11 advantage in total shots and a 6-4 edge in shots on goal. The Panthers notched five corner kicks to just one for the Ragin's Cajuns.
Leiva led FIU with eight total shots while four other Panthers notched two. Savage picked up her seventh win of the year, making five saves and improving her goals-against-average to 1.10. 

With the win, FIU improves to 4-1-1 in Sun Belt Conference action.  It also snapped a two-game winless streak for the Panthers versus the Ragin' Cajuns and moved FIU's home record to 5-1-0 on the year.

"The fact that we came from behind for the first time this season shows the resolve of our team," Chestnutt said. "ULM will be a different team with a different style and we will have to get ready for that, starting tomorrow. It's about getting the wins in conference play and we are going to come out on Sunday looking for another positive result. "

The Panthers will host the ULM Warhawks on Sunday, Oct. 14, at the FIU Soccer Stadium. Game time is set for 12:00 p.m. ET.

For ticket information, call the FIU Ticket Office at 305-348-GAME or log onto FIUSports.com. Those Panther fans unable to attend the game in-person can follow all of the action on PantherVision (live streaming). For more information, log onto www.FIUSports.com and access "Live Events" from the Multimedia tab.
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About FIU Athletics: FIU Athletics is home to more than 400 student-athletes in 18 different sports. 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 bachelors, masters 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 nearly 50,000 students in two campuses 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. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.