MIAMI (Sept. 2, 2015) – The FIU women's soccer team (1-2) continues its challenging non-conference slate this week, as the Panthers travel to the state of Ohio for its first weekend road trip of the 2015 season. FIU will play its second-straight opponent named to the NSCAA Top 25 on Thursday, as the Panthers will face the No. 17 Ohio State Buckeyes at 7 p.m., and will close out the first week of September with a 1 p.m. matinee on Sunday at Miami (OH).

Game Day Central
Thursday, Sept. 3 at #17 Ohio State – 7 pm ET
Venue: Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium
Stream: Click here
Livestats: Click here
Twitter: Click here
 
Sunday, Sept. 6 at Miami (OH) – 1 pm ET
Venue: Miami Soccer Field
Livestats: Click here
Twitter: Click here
 
A Glimpse at the Buckeyes
Ohio State climbed to No. 17 in the NSCAA poll released Tuesday. The Buckeyes, who are one of three Big Ten teams ranked in the Top 25, also garnered a No. 2 spot in the Great Lakes region rankings behind Penn State.

Nichelle Prince was named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week, after assisting on a pair of goals in a 6-2 win in the Buckeyes' season-opener against Illinois State. She also came back to score the game-winner in the 95th minute of Ohio State's 1-0 overtime win over No. 8 Florida Sunday afternoon. The victory over the Gators was the Buckeyes' first win over a Top 15 team since a 1-0 overtime win against No. 13 Missouri Sept. 6, 2012.
 
Series History
FIU will face the17th-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes for the first time since 1997. It's the highest seed FIU has faced since it played at then-No.15 Santa Clara in 2014.

A Glimpse at the Redhwaks
After posting back-to-back shutouts on the road at Vanderbilt and Western Kentucky, Miami (OH) slipped this past weekend by dropping two-straight matches. Six different Riverhawks have netted a goal this season, while Vic Maniaci has played the bulk of time in net.
 
Series History
FIU will face its first of two first-time opponents on Sunday, as the Panthers will travel to Oxford, Ohio, for a matinee against the Redhawks.
 
Chasing a Record
Madlen Weinhardt's 18 career assists sits the Germany native No. 3 all-time in the program history.
 
1. Catherine Liller____ 24
2. Chelsea Leiva_____ 19
3. Michele O'Brien ___ 18
   Madlen Weinhardt  18
 
Freshman Impact
When Taylor Coffee and Lyrik Fryer were written into FIU's starting XI in the team's season-opener on Aug. 21, they became the first freshmen field players to start in the Panthers' season-opener since Marlena Stablein in 2012. Additionally, it's the first time multiple freshman started in the team's season opener since FIU's 2011 class had true freshmen Ashleigh Shim and Johanna Volz open the season on the pitch.
 
Coach's Corner
Thomas Chestnutt is in his ninth season with the Panthers and has guided his teams to two regular season and one post season Sun Belt title, in addition to one NCAA berth and four seasons of 10-plus wins.
 
First of an Era
Jacqueline Byers' goal during her collegiate debut versus Dayton marks the first time in seven-plus seasons that a freshman has scored a goal in her collegiate debut.
 
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/.