MIAMI (Nov. 13, 2022) – Bernardo Dos Santos Monteiro and David Garcia scored first-half goals to lift No. 22 Men's Soccer to a 2-0 win over No. 3 seed USF in the title match of The American Athletic Conference Tournament on Sunday afternoon in Miami.
 
The Panthers, who also captured the regular-season championship, swept both titles in the programs' first season in The American.
 
FIU now turns its attention to the NCAA tournament and where they will land in the bracket. The Panthers earned an automatic bid to be one of 48 teams selected after winning the conference championship.
 
The tournament selection show is scheduled for Monday, November 14 at 1 p.m. It will be streamed live at NCAA.com.
 
The first round of the tournament is scheduled to being on Thursday, November 17.

The FIU offense came out strong in the first half, scoring twice before the first 45 minutes had passed.
 
In the 25th minute, Dos Santos Monteiro picked up the ball on the left wing deep in USF territory. He dribbled past his defender and fired a shot on target from just inside the box. The ball would take a minor deflection before finding the back of the net and put FIU up, 1-0.
 
The Panthers would score again in the 42nd minute, this time off a set piece.
 
A Joao Domingues corner kick floated back post and was headed back towards goal by Carlos Scheckermann. Garcia timed his jump perfectly to beat multiple USF defenders to the second ball and guided it past the keeper's outstretched arm to double the Panthers advantage.
 
The second half saw a valiant effort by the Panthers' defense and goalkeeper Kevin Harr.
 
Down two, USF pushed hard for a goal but were limited to just five shots in the half. Two of those were blocked by defenders and Harr came up with a crucial save in the 72nd minute to keep momentum on FIU's side.
 
When the final whistle blew FIU was victorious, 2-0, and crowned The American Championship Tournament champions.
 
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.
 
General athletic news can also be found at @FIUSports on Facebook and @FIUAthletics on Twitter and Instagram.