Box Score MOBILE, Ala. (Nov. 4, 2012) – A goal by North Texas' Amber Haggerty in the 63rd minute proved to be the only score of the match as the FIU women's soccer team (13-6-2) fell to the Mean Green (16-4-2), 1-0, in the championship match of the 2012 Sun Belt Conference Tournament on Sunday afternoon.
"We had the right mentality and the effort was there in the first half," Head Coach
Thomas Chestnutt said. "I thought we did a good job in developing an attack. We just couldn't finish in the area. I thought we controlled the game very well. However, in the second half, we didn't have a good first touch on the ball and we couldn't play our game. We were struggling to connect passes. When we did create opportunities, we could not capitalize on them in North Texas' third of the field."
Making the team's second-straight SBC Tournament final, the Panthers found themselves trailing in the shots category, 21-9 (7-3 on net). Despite solid play in the first half by the Panthers, the team was unable to control the flow of the game in the final 45 minutes as the Mean Green put up 14 shots on the FIU defense, including the game's only score in the 63rd minute.
On a free kick by NT's Kelsey Hodges, the Mean Green capitalized on a well-played ball in the area as Jackie Moreau flicked a header to Haggerty, who netted the contest's
lone score.
Down a goal, the Panthers pressed to score the equalizer, including good attempts by junior
Chelsea Leiva and sophomore
Scarlett Montoya. However, for the first time in the team's last 12 outings, FIU was held scoreless, resulting in an end to the Panthers' tournament run as well as the 2012 season.
"It was unfortunate," Chestnutt said. "We fought hard and battled. We tried changing things up but it just didn't fall for us."
Leiva led all Panthers with six total shots, increasing her season total to 91, setting the school record for total shots in a season by an FIU player.
Goalkeeper
Kaitlyn Savage suffered the loss, making six saves in her 21st appearance of the season.
This also marked the first time in over a month in which the Panthers were on the losing end of a match as the loss to the Mean Green snapped a seven-game winning streak and a nine-game unbeaten streak (8-0-1).
FIU's foursome of
Nicole DiPerna, Leiva,
Kim Lopez and
Johanna Volz were named to the SBC All-Tournament for their play in the Panthers' three matches this week.
The 2012 season saw FIU win 13 games (second-most in program history), make its second-straight conference finals and garner all-conference accolades for five players (Leiva, Savage, Volz,
Marie Egan and
Nikki Rios).
"We talked about getting better every game this year," Chestnutt said. "And I thought this team did that, especially towards the end of the year. We've become a very tight and close-knit family and it was great to see the team build on that this season."
Three players reached double-figures in points during the 2012 season (Leiva – 29, Montoya – 24,
Madlen Weinhardt – 11). Leiva will enter next season ranked No. 6 all-time on the FIU career scoring list (68 points) and will be two career goals (26) shy of tying Delia DeSilva (1991-94) for fifth all-time at FIU. Weinhardt, in her first year with the
Panthers, notched nine assists, tying the Deckenpfronn, Germany, native for No. 3 in the FIU record books for most assists in a single season (13 by Lisa Bliskis – 1996).
"I thought that they fought hard all year," Chestnutt said. "I am proud of the way they continued to work hard, improve and get better and better. We played good soccer all season long and we created a lot of opportunities."
It also marked the end of the collegiate career for Savage, who finished her time at FIU with a career record of 35-16-7 and a career goals-against-average of 1.01. With 117 saves this season (third-most all-time at FIU), the Fox Island, Wash., native finished her career with 311 saves becoming just the third goalkeeper in FIU history to notch over
300 saves during her career. She also became the school's all-time shutout leader with 21.
The Panthers close out the 2012 season as the Sun Belt Conference co-regular season champions – the team's third title in the last four years (2009 and 2012 SBC regular season; 2011 SBC tournament).
Fans are encouraged to follow @FIUWomensSoccer on Twitter, and "Like" FIU women's soccer on Facebook (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), 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 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/.
