MIAMI (Oct. 9, 2014)—The FIU women's soccer team (6-5-1, 1-0-1) closes out a three-game road trip this weekend, first taking on the UAB Blazers on Friday at 8 p.m. ET before facing familiar foe Middle Tennessee on Sunday at 1 p.m.
 
Coverage
Friday vs. UAB – 8 p.m. ET
Venue: West Campus Field, Birmingham, Ala.
Follow on Twitter: @FIUWomensSoccer
LiveStats: Click HERE
Stream: Click HERE

Sunday vs. Middle Tennessee – 1 p.m. 
Venue: Dean A. Hayes Track and Soccer Stadium, Murfreesboro, Tenn.
Follow on Twitter: @FIUWomensSoccer
LiveStats: Click HERE
Stream: Click HERE
 
Scouting the Blazers – Series History
Returning to Birmingham after a one-point weekend on the road, the Blazers are 5-6-1 overall, but their 2-1-1 C-USA record puts UAB in third place with seven points, three points more than FIU's four. Johanna Liney leads her squad with 14 points and six goals, while Kimberly Finhcher is close behind with nine points and four goals. Angelica Jimenez has played every minute for the Blazers between the pipes this season, boasting four shutouts and a .822 save percentage. Already named C-USA Defender of the Week to open the season, Jimenez leads the league in saves (62) ad saves-per-game (6.20).
 
FIU won its only meeting with UAB last season, handing the Blazers a 3-2 loss 57 seconds into overtime, courtesy of senior Ashleigh Shim's game winning goal. Sara Stewart scored her first career goal against the Blazers last season.
 
Scouting the Blue Raiders -- Series History
After its longest road trip of the season last week, Middle Tennessee returns home to host the league's two Florida schools. With a 1-2-1 conference record, the Blue Raiders enter Friday's match with Florida Atlantic positioned as one of four teams with four points, tying them with FIU, Florida Atlantic and Marshall for fifth place in the conference. Grace Summers is the frontrunner of the Blue Raiders' offense, as she posts team-bests in both goals (5) and points (10), which has already earned her C-USA Offensive Player of the Week honors earlier this season. Also given Player of the Week laurels is Kelsey Brouwer, who's posting a .757 save percentage and three shutouts.
 
A rich series history between the two schools, FIU most recently dropped last year's match, 1-0, in both schools first season as a Conference USA member.
 
A Look Ahead
FIU returns home for its final weekend home stand during the regular season next weekend to face a tough test against two teams that have been receiving votes. First, Rice comes to Miami on Oct. 17, followed by current C-USA leader North Texas on Oct. 19.
 
Shim a Senior Class Selection
Senior Ashleigh Shim has been named one of 30 Senior CLASS Award candidates. To be eligible, a student-athlete must be a classified NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence – community, classroom, character and competition.
 
Winning Ways
FIU's current senior corps has amassed 39 wins so in its four-year tenure at FIU. The class of 2014 is currently tied for fifth all-time for wins by a class. Below is the top five winningest classes in program history:
 
1.2012 – 48 / 2. 2001 – 44 and 2013  - 44 / 4. 1993 – 40 / 5. 2011 – 39 and 2014—39
 
Clean Sheets
Freshman goalkeeper Nevena Stojakovic has six shutouts through 12 games to start her young career. The Serbia native is boasting a 0.90 goals-against-average and a .738 save percentage. Her six shutouts are tied for the second-highest in C-USA and ties for No. 35 in the nation. Below is a list of the most shutouts in the league.
 
1.            KERESTINE, Jackie-NT --             9
2.            DRINKWATER, Sydney-FAU --     6
                STOJAKOVIC, Nevena-FIU --      6
4.            LEONE, Allison-WKU --                 5
                Amy, Czyz-RICE --                       5
                DILLING, Sarah-UTEP --             5
 
Closing Out Games
Chelsea Leiva's four game-winning goals this season paces the red shirt senior for first within the league for game-winning goals.
 
G-W GOALS                        GP          No.        
1. LEIVA, Chelsea-FIU         11           4
1.MOATS, Lauren-WKU       10           4
SLOAN, Kathryn-LT             11           3
 
On a National Scale
Leiva's four game winning goals ranks the Royal Palm Beach, Fla., native No. 35 in the nation for that category.
 
Also Ranking Nationally…
Scarlett Montoya's six assists this season ranks the Miami native No. 25 in the nation for assists, while it paces the facilitator tied for first within all of C-USA.
 
International Affair
Of its 22 student-athletes, the FIU women's soccer team boasts players from five different countries (Nevena Stojakovic, Serbia; Cyan Jean-Baptiste and Sara Stewart; Canada; Madlen Weinhardt, Germany; Ashleigh Shim, Jamaica; Pat Tomanon, Philippines; Paula Quintero, Colombia)
 
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/.