Men’s Soccer Playing For Bye Week Against Gamecocks

After a close game last Tuesday against USF, the FIU Panthers enter their last away game of the regular season in a conference matchup against the South Carolina Gamecocks.

FIU remains undefeated at with 9 wins and 4 ties, but now seeding in the postseason conference tournament is on the line. As it stands, Charlotte has taken the lead in the standings after their 1-0 win against Old Dominion. 

Going into Friday’s game, the Panther faces a 6-8-2 South Carolina, with only one win in their six conference games. Their latest game being a 4-0 loss against a strong Kentucky team.

For South Carolina, this game is crucial: it’s their last conference game. This means that if they were to lose or tie, their postseason aspirations would fail to manifest.

FIU, on the other hand, are safely in the C-USA tournament, but the Panthers are playing for better seeding. For the tournament, the top two seeds are given a bye into the semifinals, added rest to prepare for the tournament. If the Panthers are able to win, it would not guarantee the bye week, but it would lower the stakes of the Marshall game next week.

Going into the match, history has not been friendly to the Panthers, with a 1-8-4 record against the Gamecocks, and their last contest being an FIU loss 2-3. Things are different this year, however, with the Gamecocks lower in rankings and losing to FIU in every metric except saves and shutouts.

The Panthers will play their last regular season away game on Friday, November 1st at South Carolina’s Stone Stadium.