MIAMI (Oct. 11, 2011) – The FIU men’s soccer team, in front of a crowd of 741 rowdy Panther fans, played the No. 6-ranked UCF Knights to a 0-0 draw Tuesday evening at the FIU Soccer Stadium in Miami, Fla. The draw runs FIU’s record to 4-5-3 and 1-2-1 in C-USA action, while UCF improves to 8-1-2 and 2-0-1 in C-USA games.

The match was stopped with 4:49 remaining on the clock due to lightning in the area. After a lengthy rain and lightning delay, officials deemed the field unplayable and the match was called at a 0-0 draw in regulation.

FIU’s defense came alive against UCF, holding one of college soccer’s most potent offenses scoreless. Senior defender Jahbari Willis held the NCAA’s leading scorer McKauly Tulloch to only two shots on the night, none of which were on goal. Credit should also go to the rest of the Panthers back-line of junior Anthony Hobbs, junior Joseph Dawkings and senior Nicholas Chase for holding the Knights to just six shots on goal.

Freshman keeper Rodney Greiling matched a career-high in saves with six en route to his second-career shutout. Both shutouts came against ranked opponents.

Freshman Quentin Albrecht led the FIU offense with three shots on goal while Chase, junior Sebastian Frings and Hobbs each had one apiece. In all, the Panthers out-shot the Knights, 16-14 in the contest.

The Panthers will return to the pitch on Sunday, Oct. 16 when they travel to Dallas, Texas to take on the SMU Mustangs. Match time is set for 8:00 p.m. ET.  

For ticket information to FIU home matches, call the FIU Ticket Office at 305-FIU-GAME or log onto www.FIUSports.com. Fans can follow @FIUMensSoccer on Twitter for home match updates. You can also find us on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/FIUMensSoccer.

About FIU Athletics: FIU Athletics is home to more than 400 student-athletes in 17 different sports, and is a proud member of the Sun Belt Conference and an affiliate member of Conference USA (men's soccer). Athletic events are played in seven different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including U.S. Century Bank Arena and Alfonso Field at FIU Stadium.

About FIU: Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. Its colleges and schools offer more than 180 bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida’s anchor institutions, FIU is worlds ahead in its local and global engagement, finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission and enrolls 46,000 students in two campus and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. More than 140,000 alumni live and work in South Florida. FIU is a member of the Sun Belt Conference and has 400 student-athletes participating in 17 sports. In 2010 the Panthers won their first bowl game. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.

 

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