MIAMI (Nov. 11, 2021) – The No. 13 ranked FIU men's soccer team opens play in the Conference USA Men's Soccer Championship tournament on Friday, Nov. 12, with the Panthers set to battle No. 10 ranked Kentucky in the semifinals round.
 
The contest will take place at Transamerica Field on Charlotte's campus. A live video link for Friday's match can be found here, while live stats can be found here.
 
All games of the 2021 C-USA tournament will be broadcast on ESPN+. More information is included at the C-USA Championship Tournament Central page.
 
The winner of the C-USA Championship secures an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
 
SEMIFINALS MATCH PREVIEW
FIU received a first-round bye in the C-USA tournament after earning the No. 1 seed in the league standings. The Panthers finished the regular season with a 7-0-1 conference record (12-2-2 overall) and hoisted the C-USA regular-season trophy last Friday (Nov. 5) after dominating No. 1 ranked and defending NCAA champion Marshall by a score of 4-1 at FIU Soccer Stadium.
 
Kentucky entered the C-USA tournament as the No. 4 seed and now moves on to play FIU after defeating No. 5 seed Coastal Carolina in the opening quarterfinals round by a score of 3-1 on Wednesday (Nov. 10). The Wildcats finished the regular season with a 12-1-4 record, including a 3-1-4 mark in C-USA play.
 
FIU and Kentucky met earlier this season (Oct. 10) as the No. 20 ranked and No. 8 ranked teams in the nation, respectively. The two programs played to a scoreless draw in the contest, with FIU seeing chances for the game-winning goal early and often throughout the match. Both sides saw four shots-on-goal in the contest, with the Panthers earning 12 total shot attempts to go along with their sixth shutout of the season.
 
The last time FIU and Kentucky saw each other in the Conference USA tournament was back on Nov. 13, 2015, with the Panthers defeating then-ranked No. 11 Kentucky (1-0) in the semifinals, before going on to down Marshall (1-0) in the championship contest.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES
FIU has posted a 4-0-3 record in its last seven meetings against Kentucky. The Wildcats have not defeated the Panthers since Nov. 7, 2015.
 
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
Kentucky is led offensively by forward Luke Andrews, who has recorded a total of 10 points on four goals and two assists. Forward Eythor Bjorgolfsson has tallied nine points with four goals and an assist.

Between the pipes, the Wildcats are anchored by C-USA Goalkeeper of the Year Jan Hoffelner. Hoffelner has started 14 games and posted 10 clean sheets, while nabbing 30 saves on 126 shots faced to go along with a 0.33 goals-allowed-average and a .857 save percentage.

Defense is Kentucky's strong suit this season, as the Wildcats boast a C-USA-best 0.441 team goals-allowed-average, which ranks No. 2 in the country.
 
FIU BY THE NUMBERS
The Panthers are currently ranked No. 13 in the nation according to a poll by CollegeSoccerNews.com.
 
FIU has been Top-25 ranked for 10 straight weeks and is also appearing in national polls by the United Soccer Coaches (No. 14) and TopDrawerSoccer.com (No. 16). The Panthers also boast a No. 18 ranking in the RPI (Rating Percentage Index).
 
The Blue & Gold stands as the highest-ranked program in the state of Florida, and one of three ranked teams from the formidable Conference USA.
 
During the regular season, FIU finished with 22 points in the league standings which stands as a program record since joining C-USA. The Panthers also posted the most shutouts (7) in a regular-season since the 2003 campaign en route to defeating a No. 1 ranked opponent for the first time in program history.

FIU stands top in the nation in several statistical categories, including No. 1 in the nation in shots-per-game (17.62) and No. 2 in shots-on-goal per game (7.75).
 
Additionally, the Panthers rank No. 7 in scoring offense (2.5 goals-per-game) and No. 8 in points-per-game (7.38), while standing at No. 11 in both win percentage (.812) and goal differential (25). FIU also ranks No. 14 in assists-per-game (2.38), No. 23 in corner kicks per game (6.38), No. 30 in shutout percentage (.438), and No. 36 in goals-against-average (.909)
 
After earning a Top-30 recruiting class from TopDrawerSoccer.com (TDS) before the season started, FIU has seen three of its freshmen grace the TDS Men's Freshmen Top-100. Bernardo Dos Santos Monteiro (No. 23), Julian Hodek (No. 69), and Edgar Aguilar (No. 76) all appeared in the recent release. Additionally, standout center back David Garcia was ranked No. 32 in the TDS Men's Soccer Top-100 players list.
 
13 different Panthers have scored this season in what has been a truly balanced attack, with Stephen Afrifa (8), Dos Santos Monteiro (7), Kareem Riley (5), Garcia, Mauro Bravo (3), Rasmus Tobinski (3), and Talla Faye (3) leading the way.

This season, FIU has seen a defender score in 10 of its 16 contests, with Garcia, Riley, Carlos Scheckermann (2), and Philip Hildebrandt (2) all contributing goals.
 
Center back Riley has anchored FIU's defense and leads the squad with 1,433 minutes played while starting all 16 games.
 
UP NEXT
The C-USA Men's Soccer Championship Final is slated for 7 p.m. ET on Sunday, Nov. 14. The winner of the match between No. 1 seed FIU and No. 4 Kentucky will advance to play the winner of the semifinals contest between No. 2 Marshall and No. 6 FAU.
 
TICKETS
For more information on tickets, including student ticketing, call 305-FIU-GAME or visit here.
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
Fans are encouraged to follow the Panthers on Instagram (@FIUMSoccer), Twitter (@FIUMensSoccer), and Facebook (Facebook.com/FIUMensSoccer) for all the latest Men's Soccer news. Follow all of FIU's athletic teams on Twitter (@FIUAthletics), Facebook (Facebook.com/FIUSports), YouTube (FIUPanthers), and Instagram (FIUathletics).