MIAMI (Sept. 5, 2014) – The FIU men's soccer team (1-2-0) dropped its home opening match to the Stetson Hatters on Friday night, 2-1. Despite outshooting the Hatters, 23-6, nine were on goal for the Panthers.  Three of Stetson's six shots were on goal.

Sophomore Juan Benedetty scored the lone goal for the Panthers for the night. The Miami native's first career score came in the 61^st minute on a shot from 25-30 yards out. With the Panthers trailing 2-0, Benedetty was playing up in the attacking third of the field and gathered a loose ball from nearly 30 yards out. From there, he struck it low with his left foot and found the back left side of the net to cut the lead to 2-1.

Stetson got on the board in the 17^th minute on Ross Morison's first goal of the 2014 season. Eli Beates followed in the 37^th minute for the Hatters, scoring on a breakaway to give Stetson a 2-0 lead, a lead that would be difficult for the Panthers to overcome even though the opportunities were created.

After Benedetty's goal in the 61^st minute, FIU kept brining the pressure. Senior Roberto Alterio entered the game at halftime and was a force off the bench. In the 62^nd minute, he got loose and ripped a shot that went wide on a clean look. Senior Sean McFarlane and junior Daniel Gonzalez each had shots that were saved in the 62^nd and 64^th minute respectively as well. Sophomore Marvin Hezel and senior Quentin Albrecht followed shortly after with shots that were saved as well.

FIU's closest opportunity may have come from sophomore Luis Betancur in the 71^st minute. Alterio used some nifty moves and got in the 18-yard box. From there, he found Betancur who was making an angled run towards the center. Betancur had a wide open look, but Stetson made a great save to keep the Panthers in check.

FIU is back in action on Wednesday, Sept. 10 as it travels to Elon.

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 Twitter (@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 FIU Arena and Ocean Bank 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/.