Santiago Archieri/ Contributing Writer .
FIU women’s soccer went 0-2 this weekend after a 4-2 loss to the Rice University Owls and a 1-0 loss to the University of North Texas Mean Green.
After a 2-0 start last weekend in their first conference games, the Panthers looked to carry the momentum heading into Houston against Rice for their first matchup of the road trip. Rice was coming off a cold stretch, dropping four of their past five games before welcoming FIU. The Owls made sure not to waste any time when the game started as they found the back of the net in just the second minute of the game.
The lead wouldn’t last thanks to reigning Conference USA offensive player of the week, Scarlet Montoya, who scored her third goal of the season to tie the game up in the 19th minute. Two minutes later, Madeleine Lundberg of the Owls would regain the lead for her team and the one goal difference was the closest FIU would be for the rest of the game.
Rice scored two goals in the first 13 minutes of the second half to build a 4-1 advantage over the Panthers. The game marked the first loss in conference play for FIU, who was outshot 15-7 by the Owls, and dropped the Panthers to a .500 record on the season. Unfortunately, the weekend would not get any better for the squad when FIU traveled to play the North Texas Mean Green in their last matchup of the weekend.
The game was off to a close start when both teams played up to their defensive abilities, as neither team registered a goal in the first half. But this meant that the Panthers offensive problems continued and the Mean Green had more than twice as many shots as the Panthers at the end of the first half.
Rachel Holden of North Texas broke the tie in the 73rd minute and the Mean Green took a 1-0 lead in the game. FIU started to pick up the pace in the final 17 minutes, but it was to no avail as North Texas left with the win.
After two losses over the weekend, FIU has a conference record of 2-2 and dropped to 6-7-0 overall in the season. The Panthers are 2-0 in their conference when they play at home and their next game is a conference game against the University of Southern Mississippi on Friday, Oct. 9 at 7:00 p.m. at the FIU soccer stadium.