Box Score MIAMI (August 30, 2013) – The FIU men's soccer squad dropped its season opener to the Loyola Marymount Lions late on Friday night at Sullivan Field. The Lions jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but FIU fought hard and cut the LMU lead in half. The Panthers however fell just short in the first contest of a two-game west coast swing.

With the Panthers trailing 2-0 in 70th minute, senior Roberto Alterio scored his first ever regular season goal in an FIU uniform to give his squad some hope. LMU outshot the Panthers by a count of 16-4 and the Lions provided lots of pressure in the attack, earning eight corner kicks. Sophomore Robin Spiegel played all 90 minutes in goal for the Panthers and made three saves.

The Lions jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the 40th minute as Ryan Felix successfully converted a penalty kick after LMU was fouled in the box. LMU held FIU to just one shot in the first half and took a 1-0 advantage into halftime.

LMU tacked on a second goal in the 63rd minute, this one coming from Leon Prikhodovskiy, as he collected a misclear and scored from about 20 yards out.
A young, tough and talented FIU squad battled though, and was rewarded in the 70th minute as Alterio came through. Nelson Milsaint found the senior at the top of the six-yard box, where Alterio knocked it home to cut the Panther deficit in half.

FIU had some close calls near the end as they battled for a potential game-tying goal. With just about 10 minutes remaining, freshman Marvin Hezel had a great scoring opportunity off a Daniel Gonzalez free kick, where he found Hezel and the freshman struck it just over the right crossbar. Hezel had another opportunity in the 89th minute, but LMU keeper Billy Thompson made the stop to seal the victory for the Lions.

FIU will now turn to a Sunday night showcase at San Diego State, a 10 p.m. start time vs. the Aztecs. Following this weekend's pair of contests, the
Panthers will return to the Sunshine State on Sept. 5, visiting UCF.

Fans are encouraged to follow the Panthers on Twitter (@FIUMensSoccer) and become a fan on Facebook (Facebook.com/FIUMensSoccer) for all the latest Men's Soccer news. Follow all of FIU's 18 athletic teams on Google+ (FIU Athletics), (@FIUAthletics), Facebook (Facebook.com/FIUSports), YouTube (FIUPanthers), and Instagram (FIUathletics).

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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 bachelor¹s, master¹s and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida¹s 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. FIU has awarded 200,000 degrees and enrolls 50,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. FIU is a member of Conference USA and has 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.