Men’s soccer ready for first round of conference tournament


Patrick Lopez scored the game-winner for FIU in the Panthers' 2-1 victory over Old Dominion on Oct. 17.

Patrick Lopez scored the game-winner for FIU in the Panthers’ 2-1 victory over Old Dominion on Oct. 17.

By Joel Delgado ’12 MS ’17 

The FIU men’s soccer team finds itself in unfamiliar territory this week – and that’s a very good thing.

On Wednesday, the Panthers will take on the Old Dominion Monarchs at 2 p.m. in the first round of the 2015 Conference USA Men’s Soccer Championship tournament in Charlotte, N.C. It will be the first time the Panthers appear in the tournament since 2007.

Head Coach Scott Calabrese, in just his second year in charge of the program, has seen his team take significant strides to help FIU complete its best regular season in years.

With a 9-6-1 overall record, the Panthers finished the regular season with an above .500 record for the first time since 2005. The team was particularly strong in front of the home crowd, losing only once in seven home matches at FIU Soccer Stadium this season.

Now the Panthers enter the tournament as the No. 5 seed, and will have a chance to compete for a conference championship – a feat that have not achieved since making the move to Conference USA a decade ago.

“I’m really happy with the progress we’ve made and it’s been in all the areas I hoped we would improve in, especially our commitment to defending,” said Calabrese, who was named the C-USA Co-Coach of the Year Nov. 10. “One of our main goals was to make the conference tournament, and now we want to see how far we can advance.”

In their only meeting this season, the Panthers defeated the Monarchs at FIU Soccer Stadium with a come-from-behind 2-1 victory Oct. 17.

After a scoreless first half, the Monarchs – then ranked No. 9 in the nation – took the lead in the 59th minute, but back-to-back goals by Daniel Gonzalez and Patrick Lopez helped propel the Panthers to a big conference win.

The Panthers lead the conference in goals scored this season, scoring 33 goals and averaging a little more than two goals per game. The goals have come from many different places, with junior forward Luis Betancur leading the way with seven goals and nine Panthers scoring at least two goals this season.

“Everyone is working for each other,” Calabrese said. “Everyone is trying to help the next person and that leads to everyone getting chances. That’s the spirit of this team and it’s helped us produce these kind of results.”

But finding the back of the net has been a struggle as of late for FIU.

In their final three regular season matches, the Panthers have been shutout by their opponents, who have begun focusing on finding ways to prevent FIU from being effective offensively.

If they are going to avoid a one-and-done tournament appearance, they will need to quickly recover that goal-scoring touch.

“It’s something we’re not used to,” Calabrese said of opponents zeroing in on FIU. “But it is something we are trying to overcome.”

For more information on FIU men’s soccer, go to FIUSports.com