Panthers’ football, soccer teams nearing seasons’ ends
Football season ends on Saturday for FIU, but Panthers fans are hoping that their school’s futbol journey is just getting started.
FIU’s 10th-seeded men’s soccer team (14-4-1) will visit seventh-seeded Duke (12-1-4) on Sunday at 1 p.m. in a Sweet 16 NCAA Tournament game. Duke is unbeaten at home this year (7-0-3). FIU is 5-2-1 on the road.
The last time FIU played Duke in an elimination game was in the second round of the 2017 NCAA Tournament. Duke, the host team, never trailed, winning that match, 2-1.
In a 2018 regular-season rematch, Duke beat FIU, 3-1.
Indeed, ACC teams have been difficult for
FIU. Last season, in the second round of the
NCAA Tournament, FIU lost 3-2 to visiting Wake Forest.
However, in an interview with The Miami Herald on Wednesday, FIU coach Kyle Russell pointed out that his Panthers earned a 2-1 road win over the ACC’s North Carolina Tar Heels earlier this season.
“That was a good benchmark for us,” Russell said. “But we don’t care who they are or where they’re from. We’re out to make new history.”
Perhaps the best feature of FIU’s team is the unselfishness of the players.
For example, in Sunday’s 3-2 penalty-kicks win over New Hampshire, Russell replaced starting goalie Kevin Harr, a freshman, with graduate transfer Matt Levy right before the start of PKs. Prior to the start of the game, Russell also benched starters Fumiya Shiraishi and Bernardo Dos Santos Monteiro.
“Those were strictly tactical decisions based on matchups,” Russell said. “It’s nothing personal. It’s just about getting our team to the next round.
“In [practices], Levy had been very good on PKs. I told him about a month ago that if we got into that situation, I was going to go to him.”
The decision worked perfectly as the game ended with Levy blocking a New Hampshire penalty kick.
Now, if FIU can beat Duke, the Panthers will host an Elite Eight playoff game on Dec. 2 or Dec. 3.
“That’s quite a carrot,” Russell said.
Meanwhile, FIU’s football team (4-7, 2-5) will play its season finale on
Saturday night at 6 against Conference USA rival Middle Tennessee State (6-5, 3-4).
FIU, which is vastly improved from last season’s 1-11 record, is on a three-game losing streak.
Middle Tennessee, which has won two straight games, is a 19 favorite.
The Blue Raiders have some impressive wins this year, including 45-31 over Miami 24-13 over Texas-El Paso and 49-21 over Florida
Atlantic. UTEP and FAU beat FIU by a combined score of 92-13.
Raiders quarterback Chase Cunningham is coming off a career-high 448 passing yards and five touchdown throws in last week’s win over FAU.
Middle Tennessee also got 166 scrimmage yards and three TDs from running back Frank Peasant and eight catches for 95 yards from wide receiver Jaylin Lane.
Cunningham ranks
fourth in the league in passing yards, and Lane is third in receiving yards.
Saturday will also mark the final game of safety Dorian Hall’s college career. He has spent six years of wild fluctuation at FIU.
In his first three seasons, FIU made a bowl game each time, a first in program history.
But with one game left, Hall has gone 5-23 over the back half of his college career.
“I’ve had ups and downs,” Hall said. “I will try to hold in all the tears [on Saturday]. I’m going to have fun, give it all I can and try to get one last win before I go.”
Hall, a criminal justice major who may become a border patrol agent or police officer if he can’t make his NFL dream come true, said he still remembers his first FIU game six years ago.
“The first play was so fast, I said to myself: ‘I need to buckle down,’ ” Hall said. “As the years go on, the game slows down for you. The offense gives away clues what type of play they’ll run.”