By Nicholas Poblete/Staff Writer
The FIU men’s soccer team extended their undefeated record by beating the University of North Florida 5-0 at home.
For the second game in a row the men’s soccer team were able to score an opening goal within the first minute of play. Senior defender Deshawon Nembhard opened the floodgates for the Panthers in the first 44 seconds of the game. This was Nembhards’ first goal as a Panther.
“Feels good you know, just take it one game at a time,” Nembhard said. “We weren’t looking over this game, obviously we won big, but we wanted to put in a good performance, get the clean sheet, and we were able to come in and do that.”
In the seventh minute, junior forward Santiago Patiño, doubled the Panthers’ lead. Patiño has scored in four consecutive games and is the leading goal scorer of the Panthers with seven goals.
In the 35th minute, sophomore midfielder Joris Ahlinvi was fouled inside the UNF box. Ahlinvi stepped up and took the penalty kick, and converted the third of the night for the Panthers. This was the sophomores’ second goal of the season.
The Panthers dominated the first half and took a 3-0 score line with them into the break.
In the 54th minute, senior forward Luca Giovine was in charge of netting the Panthers’ fourth goal of the game, the first of his season,
Sophomore midfielder Alessandro Campoy completed the thrashing with a goal in the 55th minute. Campoy scored his third of the season.
Junior goalkeeper Hugo Fauroux earned his first clean sheet at home, making three crucial saves in the first half.
“It’s a good feeling, Fauroux said. “It’s a team effort, everyone worked for everyone, its very nice.”
In the second half Fauroux was substituted by redshirt-sophomore goalie Daniel Gagliardi in the 66th minute. Gagliardi then made way for junior goalie Pasquale Giovine, who played the final 10 minutes of the match. Tuesday’s match was Pasquale Giovine’s, brother of Luca Giovine, debut as a Panther.
Tuesday marked an emotional night for the Giovine brothers.
“Its always been a dream of ours to play together on the same field,” Luca Giovine said, “and to finally have this happen for us today is a dream come true, and to do it in front of our parents is even better.”
“Emotional. I didn’t think I would ever get a cap for FIU. I worked hard, I practice everyday, but I knew my role,” Pasquale Giovine said. “The opportunity came, and the coaches gave me an opportunity, and I am so grateful for that, especially that I got to do it with my brother and my family here. It’s amazing.”
Head Coach Kevin Nylen has led the team to an undefeated record of 4-0-3. Despite the team’s form, Nylen and his team are focused on one game at a time.
“Each win gives us a little more confidence, but these guys are hungry,” Coach Nylen said. “We now focus our attention to FAU, in-state conference game, so massive. We don’t get ahead of ourselves, we take it one day at a time, and we will go back to it tomorrow and prep for FAU. We as a staff already prepped it, so we know what were going to do.”
The Panthers will travel to Florida Atlantic University on Saturday to play their third conference game of the season. Kick off is set for 10 a.m.
