Box Score FORT MYERS, Fla. (Sept. 7, 2013) – In front of a large crowd on Saturday night, the FIU men's soccer team squeaked out a 4-3 victory from the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles on Saturday night in Fort Myers. The Eagles cut into FIU's 4-1 lead late into the contest, but the Panthers were able to hold on.

Senior Roberto Alterio netted two goals for the Panthers, giving him four on the season. The Venezuela native provided great offensive pressure all night for the Panthers, leading the way with six shots, four of them on goal. Junior Quentin Albrecht and sophomore Daniel Gonzalez added the other two goals for FIU.

"Our team played great tonight," said head coach Ken Arena. "We had to overcome some adversity to make sure we got a well-deserved victory."

The Panthers wasted no time in the first half, netting three goals, including the two that came from Alterio. FIU's first score came just inside the 10-minute mark. Alterio beat an Eagle defender and was taken down to open up a penalty kick opportunity for Panthers. Albrecht knocked it in and gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead just 9:34 into the contest.

Alterio went on to score the next two for the Panthers in the 17th and 33rd minute. Gonzalez assisted Alterio's second goal, which gave the Panthers a 3-1 lead at that point. FGCU tacked on a goal with 13 seconds to go in the first half to cut the FIU lead to 3-1.

In the second half, Gonazlez, had a nice goal on a side volley. Albrecht found Gonazlez at the top of the 18, where the sophomore trapped it with his chest and side volleyed it in to give the Panthers a 4-1 lead in the 68th minute.

Just moments later, the Eagles cut the FIU lead to 4-2, thanks to Felipe DeSousa. DeSousa then added another in the 84th, but the Panthers held on to improve to 2-2-0.

FIU next turns to its first C-USA contest at Florida Atlantic on Sept. 13. The Panthers open up the home slate against North Florida on Sept. 20 at the FIU Soccer Stadium.

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).

#####

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/.