MIAMI (Sept. 27, 2014) – A last-minute Blazers' goal handed the FIU men's soccer team (3-4-1, 0-1-0) a heartbreaking, 3-2, defeat to the No. 25 UAB Blazers on Saturday evening to open its Conference USA slate. It's the first time in three attempts that the Panthers dropped a contest to a top 25 team. Senior Quentin Albrecht paced a dominant Panthers' offense with two goals, making it two-straight games that the Germany native has had a multi-goal performance.

The Panthers were clearly the stronger offensive team all night, entering halftime with a strong, 11-5, advantage in shots. The Blazers were able to balance the match out in the second half, but the game ended with FIU tallying 16 shots compared to UAB's 14.

Early pressure from the Panthers resulted in FIU's first chance of the night just short of the five-minute mark. After dancing around his defender, Albrecht's initial shot bounced off the far post. The ball rebounded to the feet of senior Roberto Alterio, but his shot missed wide.

Sophomore Nicholas Midttun was able to strip the Blazers' Mathieu Laurent of the ball approaching FIU territory with 13:15 spent in the half. Carrying the ball to just outside the Blazers' 18, Midttun sent a backwards pass to redshirt freshman Donald Tomlinson, who booted a hard shot off his right foot just wide of the net.

Albrecht made it two-straight games with two goals, in what was an overwhelmingly strong attack from the Panthers in the first half. His first goal came in the 20^th minute off a beautiful pass from Tomlinson, who sent a thru ball into the box, allowing Albrecht to beat the Blazers' keeper one-on-one.

UAB came out stronger in the second stanza, with Alex Clay finding the equalizer just shy of the 60-minute mark. Clay found himself in perfect position to grab a rebound off an FIU defender's back for the then-game tying score.

Albrecht's second goal broke a 1-1 game in the 66^th minute. An unassisted blast from outside the top of the box off Albrecht's foot gave FIU a 2-1 lead entering the final 20 minutes of play. The Panthers continued to pressure Joe Kuzminsky. Three shots by sophomore Luis Betancur in a six minute span just missed the back of the net.

The Blazers' second goal came off a set piece in the 84^th minute. With heavy traffic from both teams inside the box, UAB's Diego Navarrete was able to get a foot on the ball and find the back of the goal. One final goal with 20 second remaining in the match gave UAB the victory. Darion Copeland was able to get his head on a ball that landed just out of the reach of redshirt freshman David Mitchell.

Despite the Panthers' obvious presence in the Blazers' zone all night, Mitchell made a career-high seven save in the effort.

FIU now hits the road for a match with New Mexico. Both teams are in search for their first C-USA win. First touch is set for 9 p.m. ET on Oct. 4.
 
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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 FIU Arena and Ocean Bank Field at FIU 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/.