MIAMI (November 4, 2016) – The FIU men's soccer team will look to pick up momentum heading into the Conference USA Tournament (Nov. 9, 11, 13 in Huntington, West Virginia) as the Panthers close out their regular season at home in a crucial match against UAB on Nov. 5 at the FIU Soccer Stadium. First touch is slated for 7 p.m.
With three matches on the league schedule on Friday, Saturday's match with the Blazers will be the lone contest on the conference schedule and will conclude the C-USA regular season slate.
FIU, which is 7-6-2 on the year and 4-2-1 in C-USA, comes into the final weekend of the season with a five-match unbeaten streak and in a tie for third with South Carolina with 13 points in the league standings. The Gamecocks will play a critical match on Friday at home against Kentucky that will certainly have implications on the top five seeds in the tournament. Charlotte currently sits in the top spot (18 pts.) followed by Kentucky (15 pts.), South Carolina, the Panthers and New Mexico (10 pts.). In addition to the Wildcats and Gamecocks' match, Charlotte will play at Marshall and Old Dominion at New Mexico.
FIU is coming off a dominating 4-1 win at Old Dominion on Oct. 29.
Joris Ahlinvi,
Juan Benedetty,
Luis Betancur and
Jamar Campion-Hinds all notched goals for the Panthers, and Danny Gagliardi, playing in just the third collegiate match of his career, recorded his third-straight 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. Eight other Panthers have also netted goals this season – Betancur (3), Ahlinvi (3), Campion-Hinds (2),
Luca Giovine (2), Benedetty (1),
Paul Marie (1),
Brad Fountain (1) and
Alvaro Alvarez (1).
Gagliardi, who has been in net in place of senior keeper
Arthur Clapot, who has been sidelined with an injury the past three matches, has 17 saves and has only allowed one goal in 270 minutes played to go along with two clean sheets.
UAB comes into its match against FIU with a 6-7-3 overall record and a 2-4-1 mark in Conference USA. The Blazers are in a tie for sixth in the league standings with ODU with seven points. The Blazers have dropped their last four matches getting outscored 8-0 during that stretch. UAB hasn't scored a goal since a 2-1 win over Kentucky on Oct. 8 when it scored its second goal of the match in the 19
th minute, a stretch of 430 minutes, 39 seconds.
Massimo Ferrin (3g, 1a) and Henrique Sposito (3g, 1a) lead the Blazers with seven points apiece. While Tarnue Tyler (2g), Rami Dajani (2g) and Philip Makinde (1g, 2a) all have recorded four points on the year.
Prior to the match the Panthers will honor seven of its senior class during their annual Senior Night ceremony.
Be sure to check FIUSports.com for Conference USA Tournament opponent, date and time updates as they become available.
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/.
