Sept. 3, 2010
Jenna Marina – FIU Media Relations assistant – 305-348-2084
FIU Drops 2-1 Decision to Fresno State
MIAMI – Freshman forward Chelsea Leiva scored for the third consecutive game, but the FIU women’s soccer team (2-3) fell short of rallying for a win against Fresno State (3-2) on Friday night in a 2-1 loss.
The Panthers were kept to just one shot early in the first half, but the shot was nearly a goal as freshman forward Nicole DiPerna found freshman Kim Lopez open to the left. Lopez took a couple of quick strides in, and her shot was deflected high by goalkeeper Kaitlyn Revel.
FIU keeper Melanie Raimo came through with two solid saves off back-to-back corner plays. Unfortunately, the Bulldogs capitalized when former FIU panther Claudia Cardenas scored off a double-assist from Laura Dodd and Nicole Duff.
Down 1-0 at the start of the second half, FIU attacked early as April Perry inserted the ball on a corner play to senior Mayara da Fonseca Bordin, whose header was saved before the 4-minute mark. The Panthers tied up the game at 1 after Leiva rebounded the ball to the right of the net off a shot from Perry.
“We told them at halftime that it was 1-0 and there’s a lot in it, just be confident, be aggressive and come out and have composure and you’ll find your way through it,” Head Coach Thomas Chestnutt said. “We got in a nice play by Kassandra (Sorzano), and April got in and Chelsea did what we’ve been asking – follow it. She got the rebound and stuck it so that was great to see. It lifted the team for a bit, as well. I think we made improvements, but tonight I think we just took a little too long trying to figure it out and it ended up costing us in the end. Fresno State is a good side. They are strong, organized. They did a good job.”
Duff scored the game-winner off a pass that Kendall VanDine sailed across to the left side of the field. She managed to find the upper left corner to put Fresno State ahead with 26 minutes to play.
“It was a different challenge than what we’ve had in any of our other games,” junior defender Victoria Miliucci said. “Fresno State playing over the top from the wings is different from what we’ve encountered so far, so it took some adjusting. I feel we cut them out a lot, but it was just on their two chances that they scored.”
FIU finishes its homestand on Sunday at 1 p.m. when the Panthers welcome Robert Morris.