MIAMI (Aug. 27, 2015) – FIU men's soccer will open up the program's 44th season this weekend with a trip to a pair of ACC foes. The Panthers will kick things off on Friday with a tough matchup at No. 5 North Carolina at 7 p.m., followed by a 7 p.m. meeting at Wake Forest on Sunday. FIU is 23-18-2 all-time in season openers, including 4-1-0 in the last five seasons. Last season, the Panthers earned a 1-0 blanking at Michigan in the season opener and Scott Calabrese's first game as head coach at FIU.
 
CALABRESE SETS FEET ON FAMILIAR PITCH: FIU Head Coach Scott Calabrese has a lot of familiarity with Friday's opponent, as he was an assistant coach with the Tar Heels during the 2000 and 2001 seasons. In his first season as an assistant in Chapel Hill, UNC went on to win the ACC title and reached the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament. Calabrese and the Tar Heels followed that up with a national title run in 2001. He was no stranger to championships when he resided in the state of North Carolina, as he won a 2002 W-USA Title when he was an assistant coach with the Carolina Courage in 2002.
 
SCOUTING NORTH CAROLINA: Carolina posted a 15-5-2 record last season with a 5-2-1 mark in ACC action, reaching the NCAA quarterfinals before eventually falling to No. 2 UCLA in penalty kicks. Despite losing their top four scorers on the roster, the Tar Heels were voted No. 5 in the NSCAA preseason coaches poll. UNC's top returning scorer is Omar Holness, who tallied 11 points on two goals and seven assists last season. Carolina will feature a new keeper in net this year as Sam Euler is the only returning goalkeeper from last year's squad. Euler logged 23 total minutes in two appearances.
 
ALL-TIME VS. THE TAR HEELS: This will be the fifth appearance between FIU and North Carolina, as the series is knotted up at two apiece. These two squads last met in 2008 in Chapel Hill, as the Tar Heels earned a 3-0 blanking of the Panthers. FIU had won the previous two games though, earning a 3-2 double-overtime victory at UNC in 2004 and 4-2 victory in Miami during the 1996 season, a year in which the Panthers reached the national championship game. 
 
SCOUTING WAKE FOREST: The Demon Deacons are coming off a 10-7-2 season in 2014, which included a 5-3 mark in ACC action and an appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Wake Forest returns 10 starters, including two of its three top scorers in Michael Gamble and Jon Bakero. Gamble tied for the team lead in goals last year with six, while having a squad-best 10 assists. Bakero also netted six goals in 2014 while adding two helpers. The Demon Deacons also return their starting keeper, Alec Ferrell, who posted a 1.28 GAA last season.
 
ALL-TIME VS. THE DEMON DEACONS: FIU and Wake Forest will be facing off for the fourth time. The Demon Deacons hold a slight 2-1 edge over the Panthers, including 3-0 victory over FIU back in 2008. FIU won the first ever meeting between the two teams by a score of 4-1 in 2004 at the FIU Soccer Stadium.
 
HEZEL NAMED C-USA PRESEASON TEAM SELECTION; FIU PICKED TO FINISH SIXTH: Conference USA announced its men's soccer preseason awards and junior defender Marvin Hezel was named to the 11-man C-USA preseason team. Also, in a league that features seven bids into its tournament, FIU was voted by the coaches to finish sixth. A 2014 Third-Team All-C- USA selection, Hezel played and started all 16 games for the Panthers at the center back position. He also served as an offensive threat that netted him two goals and two assists during the year where he played the entirety of every match except for one.
 
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).
 
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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 offer 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 $8.9 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/.