MIAMI (September 2, 2016) – The FIU men's soccer team, which kicked off a short two-game home stand on Friday night, knew that it was important to get off to a good start with four-out-of-five games on the road looming, beginning next week. The Panthers did just that picking up their second-straight win with a hard-fought, gut-check 1-0 victory over Wisconsin at the FIU Soccer Stadium. The Panthers improve to 2-1 while the Badgers are even at 1-1 on the year.

Santiago Patino got the Panthers off to a quick start taking advantage of a Wisconsin turnover in the box and firing home a laser past a diving Phillipp Schilling in the fifth minute to make the score 1-0. The score was Patino's third of the season and third in his last two matches. That would be all that FIU would need as they controlled tempo and the pace of the game throughout, however the Panthers would have to battle for the remaining 85 minutes of play.

Patino made a bid for another goal just six minutes later with another shot from within the 18, however Schilling got the best of Patino, this time stopping the low liner.

Despite the Panthers dictating play, in what was a defensive struggle during the first 45 minutes, the Badgers would not pose a serious threat only getting off two shots with both coming on target. FIU had three shots with two coming on tagret in the first half.

Wisconsin, however came out firing after the intermission getting two quality chances from close range. The first came when Mitch Guitar served the ball into the box for Mike Catalano, who attempted to put the ball on net, only to have the ball deflected and cleared by the Panthers in the 46^th minute. Just a minute later, Christopher Mueller had an opportunity in the box to beat the Panthers' keeper, Arthur Clapot, but fired the offering wide of the net.

Mueller served up a dangerous skipping liner in the 72^nd minute that was stopped by a diving Clapot, and that would be the last opportunity that Wisconsin had to tie the game.

On the night, FIU held a slight 5-4 advantage in shots, despite the Badgers having the edge in shots on goal, 3-2. The Panthers had five corner kicks as opposed to the Badgers' two.

Clapot recorded three saves on the night and improved to 2-1 on the season. His clean sheet is the fifth of his career during his two years at FIU, and the first since a 1-0 win over the Marshall in the 2015 Conference USA title game.

The Panthers return to action on Sunday for what is the second game of a women's-men's doubleheader at FIU Soccer Stadium beginning with the FIU women's team taking on Miami (Ohio) at noon, before the men take the pitch against the Purple Eagles at 2 p.m.

Following this weekend, the Panthers will play four of their next five matches on the road beginning at North Florida in Jacksonville on Sept. 9 at 7 p.m. The lone home match for FIU during that stretch will be its Conference USA opener against Kentucky on Sept. 17 at 7 p.m.

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/.