BOCA RATON, Fla. (Oct. 5, 2014) – After a hard-fought 110-minute battle, the FIU women's soccer team (6-5-1, 1-1-1 C-USA) and Florida Atlantic Owls finished in a scoreless draw on Sunday evening, in what was a makeup game from a rainout on Friday evening.
Freshman
Nevena Stojakovic finished the match with two saves en route to her sixth shutout of the season, while redshirt senior
Chelsea Leiva paced the offense with four shots, three of which were on goal. Also providing a strong offensive effort was senior
Johanna Volz, who ended the night with two shots.
The Panthers and Owls played a tight first 45 minutes, with neither team getting quality chances. Despite being held without a shot in the first half, FIU's defense did a great job suffocating any potential move Florida Atlantic's attack hoped to make.
With two looks at corner kicks in the first 11 minutes, the Owls were unable to get a shot off in the box, due to the strong play of redshirt juniors
Sara Stewart,
Nikki Rios and
Marie Egan, in addition to senior
Caroline Hernandez and redshirt sophomore
Shelby Bowden later in the half.
The first shot for either team came in the 16
th minute, with Olivia Mbala firing a shot at Stojakovic, who came up with the save on the only shot on goal during the half. Two other chances for Florida Atlantic were blocked and high.
FIU came out with high intensity to start the second half and created an opportunity that resulted in a penalty kick in the 48
th minute. Against one of the stronger goalies in Conference USA, Volz had her chance saved by the diving Sydney Drinkwater. The Panthers continued to be the aggressor of the second half, with Leiva firing FIU's first shots of the night within minutes of each other. Her first shot was saved by Drinkwater in the 58
th minute.
After some late-minute substitutions, Stojakovic was tested again in the 72
nd minute, making a save on Sammy Lujan's ball. A speedy
Alyssa Robinson, who started the second half, fired a shot wide of target in the 76
th minute.
The Panthers' defense continued to be stellar, blocking the Owls' Asta Arnadottir's shot before it could reach Stojakovic. After resting for 10 minutes, Leiva reentered the match and had her second shot on goal of the night saved by Drinkwater, in what would be the final chance for either side in regulation.
FIU opened the first overtime period by forcing a corner in the 93
rd minute. After a 10-minute period with just one shot between the two teams and four Owl fouls, the Panthers began the second overtime with a heavy attacking presence. Volz had a header blocked in the box seconds into the period, while the FIU offense was able to generate three corners off scoring chances. One final push by Leiva in the final 60 seconds resulted in a header saved by Drinkwater.
A testament to the work the Panthers' defense provided, Egan, Rios and Stewart each played all 110 minutes of action on Sunday night. Both teams played with urgency all game, as the match ended with 31 fouls and four bookings, three of which were on the Owls.
FIU is back on the road for two matches next weekend, first starting with an 8 p.m. ET match-up with the UAB Blazers on Friday.
Fans are encouraged to follow the Panthers on Twitter (@FIUWomensSoccer) and become a fan on Facebook (Facebook.com/FIUWSoccer) for all the latest FIU women's 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).
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About FIU Athletics: FIU Athletics is home to more than 400 student-athletes in 18 different sports, and is a proud member of Conference USA. Athletic events are played in seven different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including FIU Arena and the FIU Football Stadium.
About FIU: Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. It is a public research university with colleges and schools that offers more than 180 bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU contributes $9.8 billion each year to the local economy. FIU is Worlds Ahead in finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission. FIU has awarded over 200,000 degrees and enrolls more than 54,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell, FIU@I-75, and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. FIU also supports artistic and cultural engagement through its three museums: the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, the Wolfsonian-FIU, and the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU. FIU is a member of Conference USA and has over 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.
