MIAMI (October 28, 2016) – The FIU men's soccer team looks to extend its unbeaten streak to five matches on Saturday when the Panthers travel to Norfolk, Virginia, to face Old Dominion in its final road contest of the regular season. First touch is slated for 7 p.m.
FIU (6-6-2, 3-2-1 Conference USA) is coming off a convincing 2-0 win over UCF on Tuesday night closing out its non-conference slate. Joris Ahlvini scored his second goal of the season and
Alvaro Alvarez netted his first-career goal, and
Daniel Gagliardi recorded his second-straight shutout in net to pace the defense en route to the win.
On the year,
Santiago Patino leads the team in points scored with 14 (7g) and has recorded three multi-goal matches and four multi-point contests. Seven other Panthers have also netted goals this season – Ahlinvi (2),
Luca Giovine (2),
Luis Betancur (2), Alvarez (1),
Brad Fountain (1),
Jamar Campion-Hinds (1) and
Paul Marie (1).
Gagliardi, who has been in net in place of senior keeper
Arthur Clapot, who has been sidelined with an injury the past two matches, has eight saves in 180 minutes played to go along with his two clean sheets.
ODU (4-6-2, 1-3-1 C-USA) has fallen on hard times this season after finishing third in last year's league standings with an 8-5-3 record and a 3-3-2 mark in conference play.
The Monarchs are coming off a 1-0 overtime win at Marshall on Oct. 26, a win that was their first since a 1-0 victory over No. 18 Radford on Sept. 11. During that stretch, ODU endured a six-match winless streak.
Nik Klosterhalfen (3g, 1a) and Sebastian Hauret (1g, 5a) lead the team in scoring with seven points apiece. Jesse Miralrio (3g) and Cole Stringer (1g, 3a) are a close third and fourth with six and five points, respectively.
Alex Tiesenhausen has played 12 of the 13 matches in goal for the Monarchs this year. He has 55 saves and boasts a .743 save percentage and a 1.58 goals against average.
Following meeting with Old Dominion, the Panthers will close out the regular season at home on Nov. 5 at 7 p.m. against UAB. Prior to the match, FIU will honor its senior class during senior night festivities.
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/.
