MIAMI (September 9, 2016) – The FIU men's soccer team had its three-match unbeaten streak snapped on Friday night with a heartbreaking 4-3 loss to North Florida at Hodges Stadium in Jacksonville. The Panthers were looking for a positive start to what is going to be a tough five-match stretch, during which FIU will play four matches on the road, including three-straight against teams ranked in the Top 25.
Unfortunately for the Panthers (2-2-1), they could not take advantage of a two-goal night from
Santiago Patino – his second multi-goal game in his last four outings – and the first goal of the season from
Brad Fountain. Patino has also tallied five goals in the past four matches.
"To concede as many goals as we did tonight is an issue that we must address," said FIU Head Coach
Scott Calabrese. "We now have to show resilience in the face of this result and respond with a great week of training. We start our conference schedule on Saturday and need to be ready."
It didn't take long for Fountain to get FIU on the board first with a goal in the 15
th minute off a penalty kick after a UNF foul on Sylwester Szczesniewicz.
The Ospreys (3-0-1) would retaliate with two goals over the next seven minutes by Milan Kovacs in the 21
st minute and Josh Castellanos less than one minute later.
Patino would seemingly take over following the intermission, netting his two goals in the 48th minute, unassisted, and in the 56th minute, respectively. The second of the back-to-back tallies came off an assist from
Ismael Longo.
But the Panthers could not hold on as Micah Smoak would put the equalizer in the back of the net in the 59th minute. Castellanos, like Patino, would record his second goal of the match – what proved to be the game winner – in the 66th minute of play.
FIU goalkeeper
Arthur Clapot recorded five saves on the night despite giving up four goals, the most goals he has given up during his two-year career with the Panthers. He came into the match having held the opposition scoreless for 263 minutes. That stretch extended to 284 minutes before Kovacs goal in the 21
st minute.
The Panthers return home on Sept. 17 at 7 p.m. when they face No. 16 Kentucky before heading out for three-straight: at No. 21 Wake Forest on Sept. 20 (7 p.m.), at No. 9 Charlotte on Sept. 24 (7 p.m.) and at New Mexico on Sept. 30 (9 p.m. ET).
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/.
