Panthers reign supreme, outrank Monarchs 2-1

On Sept. 26, a familiar whistle was heard throughout the FIU Soccer Stadium. The crowd was modest and the weather was hot, per usual. But the tone was different. This game wasn’t an ordinary duel—it was the first Conference-USA match for the Panthers this season.

Old Dominion University was welcomed into Miami. Upon walking into the stadium, the away team is usually the first out to the pitch to warmup, with the Panthers walking on shortly afterwards. For C-USA matchup number one, the Panthers were the first team to grace the war-torn field.

When asked just how much pressure was added onto the game against the Monarchs, redshirt senior forward Chelsea Leiva said: “A good amount. I mean, it’s the first conference game. It’s great that we started off on a good note. It’s one game at a time.”

For the first 45 minutes, the Panthers strung together a beautiful set of chords to produce a lead that, eventually, became too much for Old Dominion to overcome. Through the first 12 minutes, both teams were feeling for each other, seeking an early weakness in one’s defense. Head Coach Thomas Chestnutt stressed possession for his Panthers, so his team was stuck trying to find creases to work within. The Monarchs showed flashes of their ability to disrupt the Panthers’ offense, but it took one moment to change the tone for the Panthers.

At the 12th minute, senior forward Ashleigh Shim pressured the goalkeeper of Old Dominion, Erin Kinz (four saves, two goals allowed), into making an errant clearance from goal. In the same minute, senior midfielder Johanna Volz received a cross into the box that nearly found the back of the net. The Monarchs were on their heels, only to find no way to prevent an inevitable fall.

Leiva, who had four goals coming into the night, found her first of the game at the 20th minute on a through ball into the box via Shim.

“Anything I can do to help the team win is what I’m about,” said Shim. “…I like to hold on to the pass rather than go to goal.”

Shim got very close to finding the net, herself. At the 89th minute an empty net presented itself as the Monarch goalkeeper left her line. Shim played a ball down and tried to pinpoint the right side of the net, but to no avail.

The Jacksonville native predicted one goal for next game. “One goal is realistic. One is on the board!”

The selfless play of each Panther was rather contagious from that point onward. Redshirt junior midfielder Scarlet Montoya placed an accurate cross towards Leiva (four shots, four on goal). The Royal Palm Beach native found her second goal on the night which crept into the left side of the net, leaving ODU shell-shocked. Montoya capped her sixth assist on the season, giving coaches something to smile about.

“Without [my teammates] I wouldn’t score,” said Leiva. “We’re always looking to go forward.”

Going into halftime with a 2-0 lead is comforting for any team, but is dangerous.

Madlen Weinhardt, junior midfielder and set piece ace for the Panthers, described coming out of the half: “[It was] good, obviously. When you’re up 2-0, it’s still pretty good. They could [score] and you’d still be up.”

Desperate soccer is, sometimes, a recipe for goals and the Monarchs cooked up just that. In the first two minutes of the second half, Melanie Oakes put the Monarchs on the board with one goal, due in part to leading ODU goal scorer Jessie Klamut dribbling the ball down the center of the field through the Panthers iron-core defense.

“In the second half we came out flat,” said Chestnutt. “The lines weren’t with the bodies, but we fought through it.”

Old Dominion outshot the Panthers 5-4 in the second half, but failed to reach the equalizer before the 90 minute mark was reached. Freshman goalkeeper Nevena Stojakovic was tested all night, with close calls keeping coaches, players and fans on the edge of their seats.

ODU’s best chance came at the 71st minute. The Monarchs played a ball into the box towards the right side. The ball took one bounce in which Stojakovic mistimed her jump to clear the ball from a Monarch forward who made contact, but missed wide left of the post. The Panthers’ defense took charge from that point on and held off any further attacks.

The voice heard over the loud-speakers started counting down from 10 seconds and the first official C-USA win for the Panthers this season was in the books. With the win, Chestnutt and his team propel up the standings, sitting at fourth place. Old Dominion University still sits at the bottom of the barrel in last place.

This Panther team is hungry for more, though.

“I just want to win. I want this team to succeed and that’s what pushes me,” said Leiva.

On Sunday, Sept. 28, at 1 p.m., the Panthers host Charlotte University, a team fresh off a loss to Florida Atlantic University (1-0).