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Sunday, November 3, 2002
Florida International earns
automatic NCAA berth, conference title with 2-1 win over Hartwick
 laying
in the most important game of their season, the FIU men's soccer
team came out ready to play Saturday afternoon at University
Park, scoring a goal in the early minutes, and holding on for
a 2-1 victory over conference foe Hartwick. With the win, the
Golden Panthers clinched the Atlantic Soccer Conference title
and an automatic berth in the NCAA tournament.
Coming into the game, Hartwick held the overall lead in the
conference by virtue of their 4-0 league record, meaning FIU,
with their 3-0-1 record, needed a victory Sunday to win the conference
title and the automatic berth which goes with it. As it turned
out, FIU was up to the challenge.
The Golden Panthers' first goal, a header from senior forward
Matias Asorey in the twelfth minute, came while the Golden Panthers
were forced to play a man down. Sophomore defender Bobby Boswell
had been given a red card 3 minutes earlier, giving the Hawks
the man advantage. But a quick cross off a free kick from junior
midfielder John Pulido to Asorey gave FIU an early lead, which
they never relinquished.
FIU might have been forced to hold on to the skim lead a man
down the entire game, if not for an additional red card given
out to Hartwick midfielder Kevin Saunders in the thirty-seventh
minute. The penalty, which occurred on the edge of the penalty
box, prevented a breakaway goal for FIU and narrowly missed turning
into a penalty kick opportunity for the Golden Panthers. The
resulting free kick was cleared by the Hawks.
Needing a goal to pad their lead, the Golden Panthers got
one in the seventy-second minute from Asorey, his second of the
match. On the play, senior defender Juan Rivera kicked a long
ball down the west sideline to sophomore forward Oscar Gil, who
promptly crossed the ball to Asorey. Asorey then forced Hawk
goalkeeper Randall Moate to commit, before lobbing a shot over
his head into the far corner of the goal.
Drama was provided in the closing minutes by an own goal from
FIU. Hartwick forward Rob Catana launched a corner kick into
the box, which deflected off of FIU midfielder Adam Wilson into
his own goal in the eighty-sixth minute.
But that was as close as the Hawks (9-7-2, 4-1-0) would come,
as the Golden Panthers (10-4-1, 4-0-1) closed out the match and
extended their unbeaten streak to 11 games. FIU next hosts Mercer
on Friday, November 8, at 7:00 p.m. at University Park. For ticket
information, call 1-866-FIU-GAME. |