MIAMI (Aug. 31, 2019) - The FIU men's soccer team concluded the season's opening weekend in perfect fashion on Saturday night, as they defeated No. 17 ranked James Madison University on the second night of a back-to-back by a score of 3-1 at FIU Soccer Stadium.

FIU now improves to 2-0 while JMU falls to 0-2 on the young season.

After game time was moved ahead 24 hours due to Hurricane Dorian, the Panthers were forced  to play their second game in as many nights. FIU played admirably in a tough and physical match against a formidable JMU squad that reached the NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals in 2018 after winning the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament.

The match remained scoreless until the 28th minute, when senior transfer Alban Rousselet earned his first career goal to put the Panthers up 1-0. Inigo Sagarduy, who scored in Friday's home opener versus St. Bonaventure, continued to make an impact for the Panthers as he earned his first assist of 2019 on the scoring play. The Panthers led in the shot margin 6-2 after the first half, and took two shots-on-goal compared to none for the Dukes.

FIU came out strong in the second half as freshman Stephen Afrifa scored his very first Panther goal to put his team up 2-0 in the 51st minute, coming off an assist from Andrew Booth. Six minutes later, JMU's Manuel Ferriol answered and cut the Panther lead down to one goal. The battle remained tense and close between both teams, until late in the match when Caleb Franke claimed the first goal of his Panther career and extended FIU's lead to 3-1 in the 84th minute. Junior Matias Barraza assisted on the goal, marking his first of the season.

FIU continues to gain production from a variety of their players, as nine different Panthers have logged either an assist or a goal merely two games into the 2019 season.

Rousselet, Franke, and Afrifa all tied with a game-high two points, and the Panthers led in shots 12-10 over the Dukes. Jakob Rylander, Mohamed Conde, Caleb Franke, and Adam Hassan also earned their first starts of the 2019 season.

UP NEXT
FIU is back in action on Friday, Sep. 6 when they travel to Jacksonville, Florida to face the Dolphins for a 7 p.m. ET kickoff.

SOCIAL MEDIA
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