MIAMI (Sep. 19, 2021) – The FIU women's soccer team displayed one of its best performances of the season on Sunday night against rival FAU, as the Panthers battled the Owls to a 1-1 draw at FIU Soccer Stadium. 

After playing Middle Tennessee all the way into double-overtime last week to kick off Conference USA play, the Panthers stretched into four periods for the second consecutive match against FAU. The overtime contest against the Owls marked FIU's first overtime affair with FAU since the 2014 season.
 
FIU probed into the attacking third early on with a sense of confidence and aggression. After earning a corner kick in the 14th minute, forward Noemi Paquin fielded a ball that was headed out around the penalty arc, then effortlessly flicked a low shot to the bottom right of the net to put FIU up 1-0. Ithaisa Vinoly recorded two clutch saves in the opening period to keep the Owls off the scoreboard.
 
The Panthers stayed aggressive after the break and hunted for opportunities to extend the lead, as they fired off another eight shot attempts including five on-goal. FAU was able to find an equalizer however with a strike in the 72nd minute, despite four more saves by Vinoly and a Panther defense that stood tall for most the period.
 
Vinoly stayed strong for FIU in overtime as the keeper from Spain nabbed another four saves to keep FAU from finding the game-winner. The Panthers saw a chance for the golden goal when a shot by Kedie Johnson was blocked at the 106 minute-mark. FIU saw a sequence of three straight corner kicks in the waning minutes, including a couple of great on-goal header attempts by Reagan Bridges, but the Panthers were unable sink the game-winner as time ran out against FAU.

The draw earned FIU one point in the C-USA standings and snapped a six-match losing streak to the Owls. For the night, FIU earned eight corner kicks to FAU's four.

Freshman Paquin scored her third goal of her 2021 campaign and now leads FIU in the category. Vinoly earned her sixth start between the posts this year and notched a season-high 10 saves.
 
Nine Panthers cracked the hundred minute-mark, while Laia Muñoz Danon, Bridges, and Paquin played a full 110-minutes.
 
 UP NEXT
The Panthers will hit the road to face the Marshall Herd this Friday, Sep. 24. The match is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. ET in Huntington, WV.
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
Get all the latest information on the team by following @FIUWSoc Instagram and @FIUWSoccer on Facebook and Twitter. General athletic news can also be found at @FIUSports on Facebook and @FIUAthletics on Twitter and Instagram.