Box Score Gainesville, Fla. (Sept. 2, 2012) – The FIU women's soccer team fell, 3-0, versus the NSCAA No. 22 Florida Gators on Sunday night at James G. Pressly Stadium. Juniors Chelsea Leiva (Royal Palm Beach, Fla.) and Nicole DiPerna (Melbourne, Fla.) led the Panthers (2-2-0) with three shots each, while redshirt-junior goalkeeper Kaitlyn Savage (Fox Island, Wash.) registered seven saves against the Gators (2-2-1).

.FIU came out testing the Florida backline. Early chances resulted in Leiva having an attack broken up near the corner of the six-yard line and sophomore striker Ashleigh Shim (Jacksonville, Fla.) sending a shot wide left from the top of the box.

"We got out and created some clear opportunities early," Head Coach Thomas Chestnutt stated. "Unfortunately, we weren't able to finish. If you get up early, you never know how that changes the game. The girls were very focused in their approach and fought hard."

FIU allowed the opening goal in the 13th minute. Service into the box was dished towards the penalty marker by Tessa Andujar. Havana Solaun then went lower right from 15 yards out to put UF up, 1-0.

Savage came up with several great saves throughout the opening frame. Notable in the 20th minute, a ball sent in to the right side left the Panther net-minder alone, but
Savage cradled the hard-hit ball towards the far upper corner.

"Kaitlyn had another tremendous night in goal," Chestnutt said. "Nikki Rios was up and down the left side really worked hard. Jo in the middle pulled a fantastic shift. We had players that did busy all night long. It's coming. It's early in the year. Florida should be a top 10 team. They beat Duke and tied Carolina last week. That was not a fluke. For us to have the opportunities we did says a lot about what our team is capable of."

FIU gave up another score in the 27th minute. A long ball sent in to Mckenzie Barney was touched in about eight yards out for the two goal lead.

"Despite going down 2-0 in the first half, they still went after it," Thomas said. "We created chances to get back in the game towards the end of the half and then to start the second. We never like to lose, but Florida is a very good team. "

Savage denied Erika Tymrak at the 30th minute. The Gator fired a shot from the edge of the box that the All-Sun Belt goalkeeper read correctly for the save. Savage made another diving save in the 40th minute, when UF tried to go far post from deep in the box.

Solaun broke through again to give Florida a three-goal advantage in the 13th minute of the second half.

Nikki Rios (Cooper City, Fla.) and Johanna Volz (Portland, Ore.) continued to lead the FIU defensive effort despite being down, 3-0.

FIU took its first corner of the night near the 60th minute. The ball was struck hard, but was deflected out of the box. DiPerna won the loose ball and put a shot on net.
Leiva collected a ball in the defensive half and penetrated to the top of the box only to have her shot blocked by a set of defenders. A Panther corner followed the broken play, resulting in another opportunity for DiPerna.

"Chelsea had a couple opportunities in the first half and then again later in the second," Chestnutt noted. "Nicole had quality chances in the second half. There were a couple of times when we got close and just didn't pull off the last pass."

The Panthers best chance of the night came on a late cross from freshman midfielder Madlen Weinhardt (Deckenpfronn, Germany). First-year forward Morgan Morris (Oak Hill, Va.) made contact at the six, but put a header wide.

"Madlen had a great cross to find Morgan in front of the goal," Chestnutt remarked. "We have to challenge the keeper with that. When we're open in front of the goal, we need to make the keeper come up with the save if the ball is not going to end up in the back of the net. Against top-level opponents you have to put them under pressure and make that pressure count. I'm happy with the way we played over 90 minutes. Even at the very end, we had opportunities."

FIU travels to LSU for a Friday, Sept. 7 meeting. Kickoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. (EST).

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 48,000 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/