Saturday, September 1, 2001

Soccer kicks off regular season Sunday in Tampa vs. USF

ead Coach Karl Kremser and his 2001 FIU Golden Panthers men’s soccer team open their 2001 regular season on the road tomorrow night, Sept. 2 in Tampa against the University of South Florida. The match begins at 7:00 p.m.

“South Florida is a good program that plays very well on its home field,” said Kremser. “Throw past records and any predictions out the window. This is one of those intrastate games that always turns out to be a battle.”

The Golden Panthers are coming off an 11-7-1 record a season ago and return 15 letterwinners from that Atlantic Soccer Conference championship squad. But two areas of concern entering the fall were at the forward and defender positions. Kremser has been impressed with a group of a half-dozen newcomers and, with a returning nucleus of solid veterans, hopes these areas will work themselves out as the season
progresses.

Sophomore Ezequiel Romero is back after leading the team with eight goals and four assists in 2000. Peruvian freshman Alvaro Aservi and Landy Mattison, a member of the under-18 US National team, have really turned heads in camp. Junior transfer Rafael Reyes is in the mix as is junior walk-on Damien Rose. Kremser believes he can use any number of combinations up front with confidence.

In the back, more newcomers look to make an immediate impact. Freshmen Bobby Boswell, last year’s Hillsborough County high school co-player of the year, Allen Handy, a 2000 national pool team player, and Oz Hadary, a former Israeli national youth team captain, will look for playing time along with returnees Alejandro Sanchez and Juan Rivara.

In the battle of the goalkeepers, Franklyn Rubio will get the starting nod against the Bulls. Rubio has appeared in 15 matches over the last two seasons for FIU with 41 saves, four shutouts and a 0.86 goals against average.

Following the South Florida tilt, it’s back on the road for the Golden Panthers. Next weekend, the team is in Greenville, S.C. for tournament games against Clemson and Furman. After that, the following weekend is in Dallas for matches with Stanford and St. Louis. FIU doesn’t play its first home match at University Park until Friday, Sept. 21 against IUPUI.

Golden Panthers soccer season tickets are now available at the FIU Ticket office by calling toll free at (866) FIU-GAME (348-4263).