MIAMI (Nov. 1, 2022) – No. 22 ranked FIU men's soccer hosts rival FAU on Wednesday night with a chance to win The American regular-season championship in front of its home crowd.
 
Kickoff at FIU Soccer Stadium is set for 7 p.m. ET. FIU is set to honor 11 seniors before match time on the pitch.
 
The Panthers are 10-4-1 in 2022, 5-2 at home and 5-2-1 in AAC play. FIU is coming off a 3-2 upset over then No. 14 Charlotte for a crucial conference victory.
 
The Owls are 4-8-3 this season and are 1-5 on the road in 2022. FAU snapped a five-match winless streak last week with a massive upset of then No. 12 SMU, 2-1.
 
THE SCENARIOS
FIU currently sits atop the American Athletic Conference standings.
 
The regular season championship and tournament seeding remain in the balance headed into the final match week.
 
The scenarios are as follow …

• They win and they are in! FIU holds the tiebreaker versus Tulsa and will be conference champions with a victory.
• If both SMU and USF win and FIU loses or ties then SMU will be the #1 seed.
• If Tulsa wins and FIU loses or ties then Tulsa will be the #1 seed.
• If SMU wins and both FIU and USF lose or tie then SMU will be the #1 seed.

 
HOT HAND
The Panthers have been hard to beat all season and are closing the season on a hot streak.
 
With three wins and a draw in the last four matches, FIU has had three three-match unbeaten streaks and are on a season-best four-match unbeaten streak heading into the final match of the regular season.
 
The Panthers have also yet to lose two consecutive matches this season.
 
LUCKY NUMBER 3
The Panthers blazing offense has scored multiple goals in 11 of 15 matches in 2022.
 
The win against the 49ers marked the eighth time that FIU has scored at least three goals in a match. The Panthers are 5-2-1 in those matches, outscoring opponents 25-21.
 
Four players have scored at least three goals total this season. Stephen Afrifa leads the team with nine, which ranks third in the conference, Bernardo Dos Santos Monteiro has tallied five, Fumiya Shiraishi moved his total to four for the season and Yushi Nagao has scored three times.
 
FIU's 34 goals this season also rank third in The American.
 
SCOUTING FAU
The Owls offense has scored 13 goals through 15 games this year. Senior Victor Claude leads the way having accounted for nine points on a team-best four goals and adding one assist.
 
Neil Strauber has started the last five matches in goal for the Owls and nine overall. Strauber has made 40 saves this season after facing 107 shots.
 
UP NEXT
The Panthers will compete in the American Athletic Conference Championship Tournament November 6-13 with seeding and opponents yet to be determined.
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
Fans are encouraged to follow the Panthers on Instagram (@FIUMSoccer), Twitter (@FIUMensSoccer), and Facebook (Facebook.com/FIUMensSoccer) for all the latest Women's Soccer news.
 
General athletic news can also be found at @FIUSports on Facebook and @FIUAthletics on Twitter and Instagram.