Brandon Wise/ Asst. Sports Director
brandon.wise@fiusm.com
Photo Courtesy of http://fiusports.com
It has been over two months since the soccer season finished. Now, Munga Eketebi, men’s head coach for soccer, is finished at FIU. He has been a Panther for over 25 years, where he played college soccer from 1983-86. After that, he was an assistant coach before being hired as the head coach of the team in 2007 as the successor of Karl Kremser.
In his head-coaching career, Eketebi posted a record of 25-52-10, never being able to capture a Conference USA championship. Executive Director for Sports and Entertainment Pete Garcia has begun to look for his replacement.
“We expect our men’s soccer program to compete at the highest level and we’ll bring in the best possible candidate to accomplish that goal,” Garcia said.
The men’s soccer program at FIU has a very storied past. In 1982, the Panthers won the first and only national championship in the history of the school, defeating Southern Connecticut State 2-1 for the Division II championship. Eketebi scored six goals in the playoff run that the Panthers made toward the championship.
Then, two years later, the Panthers won the title again after defeating Seattle Pacific University 1-0. Then, in 1996, the Panthers reached the highest point in the Division I history of the school. They reached the national championship game, but failed to win, falling to St. John’s 4-1.
Since 1991, the Panthers have qualified for the NCAA tournament eight different times, but never under Eketebi.
They have also won four Atlantic Sun Conference titles from 2000-2004 before joining Conference USA in 2005. Since joining Conference USA, the team has gone 13-39-5, finishing in last place three of the past four seasons.
“We have begun a national search for FIU’s next men’s soccer coach. We want to thank Munga Eketebi for over 25 years of service here at FIU as player, assistant coach and head coach,” Garcia said.
Although the search has begun, no candidates have surfaced yet and a date has not been announced as to when the position will be filled. The season is set to begin in August.
In his career at FIU, Eketebi scored 50 goals, tied for the most all-time. He also had 124 career points, which ranks him second among Panthers.
Eketebi was unable to be reached for comment.
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