Women’s soccer home opener Aug. 21


The FIU Panthers women’s soccer team hosts its home opener Sunday, Aug. 21, when it takes on the No. 9 Florida Gators. The game will begin at 7 p.m. at FIU Soccer Stadium at Modesto A. Maidique Campus.

The Gators won their fifth consecutive SEC Championship in 2010 and are once again picked to win the conference this season.

“It’ll be an exciting game,” said Chestnutt. “We’re expecting a great student turnout and it should be fun. Florida does a great job and has a great coaching staff. They always field a strong team.”

UF holds a 4-1 record all-time against the Panthers and took the last meeting, 3-0, in 2009.

Sunday night’s game will be the second of the season for the team, which will open its 2011 season on Friday, Aug. 19, when they travel to DeLand, Fla., to face the Stetson Hatters.

The Panthers, who were chosen to finish second in the 2011 Preseason Sun Belt Conference Poll, will take on a Stetson team that finished 8-11-1 a season ago. The Hatters have played a pair of preseason games already, shutting out Brevard and Webber International earlier in the week.

“We are super excited to be playing our first match of the season,” said Head Coach Thomas Chestnutt. “We had two weeks of two-a-days and it’s finally here. What we’ve been working on for the last seven months is finally upon us, and I think the girls are super excited.”

Stetson, a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference, is led by Head Coach Julie Orlowski, who was a four-year starter and captain for FIU from 1988-91. This will be the 17th meeting between the two squads as the Panthers hold a 12-3-1 advantage against the Hatters. The last meeting came in 2009 when FIU opened the season with 3-0 triumph.

FIU will certainly be challenged this weekend but it’s one that the team looks forward to. Chestnutt announced recently that seniors Victoria Miliucci, April Perry and Kelly Ann Hutchinson will be the team captains for the 2011 season. They will look to lead a young team that carries 14 underclassmen back to the top of the SBC and into the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1993.

“This is definitely the best preseason I’ve had,” said Hutchinson. “Everyone seems together and excited. I’m confident and I’m sure the rest of the team is confident going into this first game and the rest of the season.”

Fans in attendance for Sunday’s game will receive a free poster of the 2011 squad, and the team will be available for post-game autographs. FIU students can attend all university home games for free by showing their current I.D. For those who need to purchase a ticket, you can call the FIU Ticket Office at 305-FIU-GAME or log onto www.FIUSports.com.

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