MIAMI (Sept. 7, 2016) -- FIU women's soccer begins a three-match road swing Thursday night, when the Panthers take on UCF in Orlando, beginning at 7 p.m.
 
The Panthers trail the Golden Knights 4-26-4 in the 34-contest series history. FIU won last against UCF in 2000, but the teams played to a scoreless tie three meetings ago, in 2009. The two programs played last season in Miami, with UCF, at the time ranked No. 20, winning 1-0.
 
The Panthers are hanging tough, despite a record of 0-4-1. The FIU defense has been stingy, allowing just one goal in three of the five contests this year, including the previous two. After scoring three times in the first two matches, the Panthers have not found the back of the net in the last three. Both of FIU's last two games were scoreless into the 79^th minute. The game-winning goal in three of the four losses came in the 79^th minute or later.
 
UCF has 11 goals scored in six contests this year. Senior Carol Rodriguez leads the Golden Knights with five of them, including three in the previous weekend on the road. UCF is 3-3 so far this season.
 
The road trip stays local for the Panthers this weekend, as FIU heads to Miami (Florida) for a Sunday 1 p.m. contest to conclude the non-conference portion of the schedule.
  
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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/.