Liam Rooney / Staff Writer
The FIU Men’s Soccer responded to their first defeat of the season against the Bowling Green Falcons by blanking the Jacksonville Dolphins on September 21, and defeating the Alabama-Birmingham Blazers on September 25.
FIU’s record now sits at 6-1-1 and they have their first Conference USA win of the year. With the victory, the Panthers are fourth out of the nine teams in the conference.
In eight games this season, FIU has scored 19 goals and conceded only six. The Panthers are the 15th highest scoring team in the nation with their 2.38 goals per game. The high power offense has scored four or more goals in three of their eight games this season.
Jacksonville Dolphins
In front of a home crowd, the Panthers put on an offensive clinic, blowing out Jacksonville 6-0. FIU has never lost against the Dolphins, holding a record of five wins and two ties.
As soon as the whistle blew, the Panthers were all over the Dolphins as forward Stephen Afrifa hit the post just over a minute into the game. Thirty seconds after hitting the woodwork, FIU got a free kick just outside the box that midfielder Julian Hodek fired into the corner, opening the scoring in under two minutes.
In the 20th minute, FIU won a corner after their sustained pressure on the JU goal. The corner taken by Hodek found forward Sander Jonassen Foro for his first goal of the season, extending the lead to 2-0.
Continuing their relentless pressure, the Panthers scored three goals in under ten minutes. In the 30th minute, Afrifa headed home the third goal of the game. Just four minutes later, defender Kareem Riley buried a penalty to put four on the board for FIU. In the 37th minute, forward Talla Faye slotted the ball past the keeper, making the score 5-0.
A purely dominant first half, the Panthers kept their foot on the gas in the second half. Forty seconds after the referee’s whistle blew, Faye scored his second of the game and FIU’s sixth and final goal of the match. Hodek ran the show in the victory, scoring one and assisting three.
The six goals scored was the highest number of goals scored in a single match for FIU since the 6-1 blowout of FAU on September 21, 2019. The Panthers outshot the Dolphins by a 25-4 margin, having more goals scored than JU had shots in the game. Controlling the game from start to finish, the Panthers defense collected their fourth clean sheet of the year.
Alabama-Birmingham Blazers
Kicking off Conference USA play, the Panthers traveled to BBVA field to take on UAB, winning their seventh straight matchup against them. FIU’s record against the Blazers now sits at 9-7-1 all-time.
Following their dazzling first half display against Jacksonville, the Panthers were unable to replicate the high scoring output. A tense first half against the Blazers, both FIU and UAB had four shots in the first half and were unable to find the opening goal. Heading into halftime the game was deadlocked at zero.
FIU’s offense found their finishing touch in the second half. Just three minutes after play resumed, forward Bernardo Dos Santos Monteiro scored the opening goal of the game and his fourth of the season.
Continuing the high pressure, the Panthers found the back of the net again just two minutes later with Afrifa. The midfielder took advantage of an errant backpass by a UAB defender to double FIU’s lead. The goal capped off a man of the match display from Afrifa as he assisted Dos Santos’ goal.
In the 87th minute, the Blazers found the back of the net, cutting the lead back to one. The FIU defense held strong in the final minutes and the Panthers claimed a 2-1 victory against UAB.
Continuing C-USA play, the Panthers host the Charlotte 49rs on October 2nd at 7pm. Charlotte comes into the matchup ranked just outside the top 25 and FIU has never beaten the 49ers in the ten games they’ve played.
About Post Author
