TAMPA, Fla. (Aug. 21, 2016) -- Two second-half goals by FIU senior Alyssa Robinson (Pembroke Pines, Florida / American Heritage HS) in the span of 103 seconds mounted a furious comeback for FIU women's soccer, only to be thwarted by an own goal in overtime in the 92^nd minute for a 3-2 loss at USF's Corbett Stadium Sunday afternoon. It was the second overtime game during the opening weekend in as many games for the Panthers, who now fall to 0-1-1 to start the year, while the Bulls improve to 2-0.
 
It was the first two-goal game for a Panther since Ellen Crist scored twice last September 11, versus North Florida in the only two-goal game of 2015 for FIU.
 
"I learned that no one on this team ever gives up," said Robinson after her first multi-goal game in her career. "No one is blaming one another right now. We played overtime twice and gave full effort in both games. We just need to keep working hard and refocus for Thursday."
 
The game was delayed nearly 90 minutes due to storms in the area, and the Bulls came out hot in the opening half, scoring a goal in the 19^th minute off a corner kick and header for the 1-0 lead.
 
"We started very sluggish in the first half," said FIU Head Coach Thomas Chestnutt. "After playing 110 minutes on Friday night, down 2-0 on a hot afternoon, it was a gritty performance to get us back even."
 
The second half opened to USF going up 2-0 in the 53^rd, minute, but the Panthers stormed back to score twice in the next 3:20 of clock time to level the score.
 
Robinson collected a rebound from a Courtney Phillips shot, dribbled closer and scored her first goal of the season in the 55^th minute to pull the game to within one goal. Just 1:43 seconds later, Robinson put home the seventh goal of her career, on a blast from the 18-yard line into the lower right corner to tie the game.
 
The own goal came just 1:24 into overtime. A USF cross was intercepted, but deflected in by an FIU player in the box for the game-ending play.
 
"I'm extremely proud of this group of girls and how they competed this weekend," added Chestnutt. "We had a lot of adversity to deal with early, but the commitment shown has been tremendous. This team is showing some great signs."
 
The Bulls posted 18 shots to FIU's four, and took 10 corner kicks to one for the Panthers.
 
The loss went to senior keeper Sophia Trujillo (Miami, Florida / Gulliver Prep), who mirrors the team's record of 0-1-1. She made six saves for the afternoon.
 
FIU next plays in its home opener on Thursday, August 25, with a 7 p.m. contest against Wake Forest.
  
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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/.