MIAMI (September 29, 2016) -- The FIU women's soccer program begins its longest Conference USA road trip of the season, starting Friday night, when the Panthers travel to Birmingham, Alabama, and a date at UAB, starting at 8 p.m. Eastern at BBVA Compass Field.
 
FIU (1-7-1, 0-2 C-USA) defeated the Blazers 3-2 in overtime in the only other meeting between the schools, back in Birmingham in 2013. FIU suffered shutout losses to Florida Atlantic (1-0) and Charlotte (4-0) following the 1-0 shutout win at Miami (Florida) to end the non-conference portion of the schedule.
 
The Panthers are led in goal scoring with three from senior Alyssa Robinson (Pembroke Pines, Florida / American Heritage High) to this point of the season. Senior keeper Sophia Trujillo (Miami, Florida / Gulliver Prep) has allowed one or fewer goals five times this season, with a goals-against average (GAA) of 2.22 in her final season.
 
The Blazers have posted a 4-5 overall mark, splitting their opening pair of league games. Jessica Do leads UAB with four goals, while keeper Kelsey Daugherty has a GAA of 2.06. The Blazers have posted two shutouts, while allowing one goal in two other contests, both wins. They went two overtimes to defeat UTEP at home last Sunday at home, 1-0.

Junior Paula Quintero (on where the team is making improvements...)
"We've been working hard on when and where to attack the goal, We are trying to find good timing for making runs and attacking the goal so finishing so we can score more goals and take the pressure off of our defense."
 
The Panthers will then travel to Middle Tennessee on Sunday, for a 2 p.m. contest in Murfreesboro to complete the weekend.
  
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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/.