Photo Credit: Alex Hernandez 

FIU 5, ULM 0 (Box Score)

MIAMI (Oct. 14, 2012) – Five different Panthers scored on Sunday, to lead the FIU women's soccer team (8-5-2, 5-1-1 SBC) to a 5-0 victory over the ULM Warhawks (4-12-0, 1-6-0 SBC) at the FIU Soccer Stadium. An early score by defender Nikki Rios in the second minute started the day for the Panthers, as FIU out-shot the Warhawks, 31-3.  

"I thought the team played well, both on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball," Head Coach Thomas Chestnutt said. "ULM came in with a plan and our girls executed much better out of the blocks today. We were able to find the holes in their defense. We had our opportunities today and our girls stayed patient and showed good discipline in the second half. We let the opportunities come to us in the second half." 

"I thought, as a team, we did a pretty good job putting pressure on their offense," Rios said. "ULM let us get in their final third of the field a lot this game, which gave us a bunch of scoring chances."  

Rios' goal was recorded when the Cooper City, Fla., native struck a shot on net that streaked by goalkeeper Alex Holland. Freshman Madlen Weinhardt was credited with her team-leading seventh assist of the year on the play. The early goal came just two minutes into the game, as FIU applied pressure early and often. 

Although the first half saw FIU hold a 13-2 edge in shots, the Panthers could only muster one goal.

"We had a lot of opportunities in the first half but only had a 1-0 score to show for it," said Rios. "We came out of halftime trying to figure out how we were going to score more goals. The fact that they only had one forward up top, helped to get all of us in on the attack."

The Panthers came out strong in the second half, scoring four goals on 18 shots. Junior Nicole DiPerna extended FIU's lead with her first goal of the season in the 50th minute. Pushing forward, DiPerna received a square pass from Rios at the edge of the 18. The Melbourne, Fla., native chipped a shot, upper 90, to give the Panthers a 2-0 advantage. Rios, who took a log ball from defender Marie Egan, was credited with her first assist of the season on DiPerna's goal. Egan also notched her first assist of the year on the goal. 

Sophomore Scarlett Montoya notched her seventh goal of the season in the 58th minute to give FIU a 3-0 lead, marking the third-straight game in which the Miami native has scored a goal. As the Panthers continue to put pressure on the ULM defense and its keeper, Montoya corralled a loose ball in the area and struck a shot past Holland to her left.

"In the first half, we had our chances but did not get the breaks to put some points on the board," Montoya said. "However, in the second half, we settled down. I listened more to my teammates and the first chance I got to put the ball into the back of the net, I took it.

"My mindset in every game, the minute I step onto the field, is to score goals or help my teammates score goals," said Montoya.  

Junior Chelsea Leiva kept pace with Montoya, notching her seventh goal of the season after successfully converting a penalty kick attempt in the 72nd minute. Leiva drew the penalty after being fouled in the box. The score extended FIU's lead to 4-0. Leiva finished the day with a team-best eight shots (five on net). 

Fifteen minutes later, sophomore Ashleigh Shim drew another PK after being taken down in the 18-yard box. Shim converted the penalty kick attempt for her first goal of the season, giving the Panthers a 5-0 lead in the 87th minute. 

"Four second-half goals was a good thing to see from this team," Chestnutt said. "When our second unit came in, they did a great job of keeping the intensity high. That was great to see."

Defensively, the Panther's back line stifled the ULM offense holding the Warhawks to just three shots in the game; only one in the second half. 

Goalkeeper Kaitlyn Savage picked up her eighth win of the season, making two saves in 73 minutes of action. Sophomore Kelley Struyf spelled Savage in the final 17 minutes of action to close out the game and preserve the shutout. With the 73 minutes of spotless action, Savage improved her goals-against-average to 1.04 on the year. 

In all 20, different Panthers saw action in the game as FIU notched a season-high 31 shots (17 on goal). With the 5-0 shutout of the Warhawks, FIU has not allowed a ULM goal in three-straight games. 

"We put a lot of responsibility on our back four; more so than most teams do," Chestnutt said. "I thought they did a great job today. They were extremely organized. As we continue to move forward, it is important for that unit to grow."

With the win, FIU improves to 5-1-1 in the conference as the Panthers are unbeaten in SBC play in four-straight (3-0-1). 

"This weekend has been a huge confidence boost for this team," Rios said. 

"We are happy with the weekend, picking up two conference wins," Chestnutt said. "We have a short week this week with Arkansas State this Thursday."

The Panthers will travel to Jonesboro, Ark., to take on the Arkansas State Red Wolves on Thursday, Oct. 18. Game time is set for 3:00 p.m. ET. 

Fans are encouraged to follow @FIUWomensSoccer on Twitter, and "Like" FIU women's soccer on Facebook (www.Facebook.com/FIUWSoccer) for the latest Panther soccer news. Follow all of FIU's 18 athletic teams on Google+ (FIU Athletics), Twitter (@FIUAthletics), Facebook (Facebook.com/FIUSports), YouTube (FIUPanthers), Pinterest (FIUAthletics), and Instagram (FIUathletics).  

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/.