Photo by Jonathan Segal
By: Brandon Wise / Staff Writer
With a chance to start in the position where he began the season, sophomore Eric Reyes came up big for the FIU Panthers as they played the No. 25 University of Alabama Birmingham to a 0-0 draw on Oct. 29. Head coach Munga Eketebi was frustrated with the officiating.
“The officiating was poor,” Eketebi said. “The keeper staved a penalty in extra time, which is sudden death, and it was a battle.”
Reyes made the needed stops to keep the Panthers alive. In the first overtime period, the Blazers had a chance to finish off the Panthers and win the match. However, Reyes stopped the shot and kept the Panthers’ hopes for points in the conference alive.
The sophomore recorded eight saves on a night that saw the Blazers take 24 shots on goal.
Reyes’ performance this weekend was good enough for Conference USA to name him co-defensive player of the week.
Eketebi keeps pressing the right buttons.
“[Rodney] Greiling just didn’t play well against South Carolina,” Eketebi said of the freshman goalie. “If one is not playing well, you go to the other one. Just like quarterback, if someone is not getting it done, you have to go to the other options.”
On a night that saw the Panthers allow 24 shots to the Blazers, they themselves could only manage nine shots, with only two on target coming from freshman Colby Burdette.
With the draw, the Panthers will not be heading to Tulsa for the Conference USA tournament, along with Tulsa and Kentucky. Eketebi is disappointed that his team will not be playing next week for the conference title.
“Unfortunately, we won’t be playing,” Eketebi said. “The bracket has been set and we didn’t qualify.”
ONE LAST TIME
All that is left for the Panthers to play for is pride, as they host the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles on Nov. 4. The Eagles are coming into his match fresh off their Atlantic Sun clinching victory, where they defeated North Florida 4-1 and are 10-4-2 on the season.
The Panthers will be honoring seniors Nicholas Chase, Lucas Di Croce, John Kite, Chris Lamarre, Leonardo Martinez, Mario Uribe and Jahbari Willis before the game starts.
Eketebi will not change anything in the lineup heading into this game against the Eagles.
“You always try to win every time you play,” Eketebi said. “We are going with our strongest lineup that gives us the best chance to win.”
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