Weekend Replay: Women’s soccer stuns Miami

Alyssa Robinson scores the lone goal for FIU women’s soccer in their 1-0 win over the University of Miami Sept. 11.

By Joel Delgado ’12 MS ’17 

An early goal by senior midfielder Alyssa Robinson was enough to lift the FIU women’s soccer team to a 1-0 victory over the Miami Hurricanes on Sunday afternoon in Coral Gables.

Robinson took advantage of a Miami turnover in the fifth minute and beat the Hurricanes’ goalkeeper to score her third goal of the season and give the Panthers the early lead.

FIU goalkeeper Sophia Trujillo made four saves and fended off a series of chances by the Hurricanes in the final 10 minutes of play to secure her first shutout of the season.

The Panthers improve to 1-5-1 on the season and will now begin Conference USA play with a match against rival Florida Atlantic in Boca Raton Sept. 18.

FOOTBALL

A slow start sunk FIU football in a 41-14 loss to the Maryland Terrapins on Friday night at FIU Stadium.

The Terrapins jumped out to a 17-0 lead in the second quarter before the Panthers found the scoreboard when junior running back Alex Gardner ran for a 55-yard gain that set him up for a four-yard score on the next play.

FIU football takes the field just before facing the visiting Maryland Terrapins Sept. 9.

Gardner finished with a game-high 109 yards rushing on 16 carries for the Panthers.

But Maryland responded with 24 unanswered points to put the game out of reach. In the fourth quarter, quarterback Maurice Alexander – who came in to replace starting quarterback Alex McGough in the first half – completed a four-yard pass to Austin Maloney for his first collegiate touchdown.

Alexander finished the game with 9 completions for 131 yards on 18 passes.

The Panthers (0-2) will travel to Massachusetts for their first road game of the season against UMass before returning to take on rival UCF on Sept. 24 at FIU Stadium.

MEN’S SOCCER

The FIU men’s soccer team could not keep its three-game unbeaten streak going. They lost on the road to North Florida in a back and forth 4-3 loss on Friday night.

Two goals by sophomore forward Santiago Patino early in the second half gave the Panthers a brief one-goal lead, but the Ospreys responded with two consecutive goals shortly after to take the lead for good.

It was a rough night for FIU goalkeeper Arthur Clapot, who had not allowed a goal in 263 minutes of play entering Friday’s match. The four goals against him were the most he has allowed in any game in his two years at FIU.

The Panthers return home Sept. 17 to take on the No. 16 ranked Kentucky Wildcats at FIU Soccer Stadium to kick off Conference USA play. The game will begin at 7 p.m.

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL

The FIU women’s volleyball team won two of its three matches at the Best Western Osprey Invite in Jacksonville over the weekend, defeating Nicholls State and host North Florida.

The Panthers started the weekend on a strong note, defeating Nicholls State 3-1 (16-25, 25-17, 25-21, 26-24) on Friday night with senior outside hitter Katie Hogan leading the way with 11 kills and 13 digs.

After getting swept by Mercer on Saturday morning, the Panthers rebounded in their afternoon match against North Florida. They defeated the Ospreys 3-1 (13-25, 25-21, 25-19, 25-20) with Hogan tallying another double-double, this time with 14 kills and 11 digs.

The Panthers improved 4-5 on the season and will be on the road again this weekend, beginning with a match against Mississippi State on Sept. 16.