Bautista Samperi | Sports Director
The FIU men’s soccer team is back in the American Athletic Conference final where they will face state rivals the Florida Atlantic University Owls on Saturday, Nov. 15, at 6 p.m.
The championship game will be hosted by Charlotte, who finished first in the regular season ranking.
The Panthers reached the decisive game after beating Charlotte in a game that went all the way to penalty kicks. After a back-and-forth 110 minutes, including overtime, the game went to the spot kick to decide who was moving on.
The shootout went all the way to the 12 round and after the second save of the spot kicks by goalkeeper Nigel Van Haveren, fifth year player Eduardo Mustre buried the decisive kick to send FIU to the final.
Mustre, alongside David Boccuzzo, Alfonso Gilleard-Soriano, and Owen Travis, all played the entire 110 minutes of the match, with Mustre and Boccuzzo also taking part in the penalty shootout.
This is the second consecutive season that the Panthers have reached the conference finals. Last year FIU suffered a heartbreaking defeat against Charlotte in overtime with a golden goal that ended the season for the team coached by Kyle Russell.
Now, almost two months after Florida Atlantic defeated FIU 2-0, the two teams will meet again with a place in the NCAA Tournament on the line.
Against the Owls, despite having a positive 15-6-1 record, the Panthers have only managed to come away with one win in their last five matchups.
Many of FIU’s key players are in what could be their last season so that should serve as extra motivation to end their collegiate careers on top.
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