The FIU women's soccer team narrowly came up short in a tightly-contested matchup with a talented UAB squad on Thursday evening, as the Panthers held strong defensively prior to a corner-kick score midway through the second half allowing the Blazers to hold on for the 1-0 victory at FIU Soccer Stadium.
FIU drops to 2-5-1 and 0-2-1 in Conference USA action, while UAB moves to 5-2-2 and 2-0 in the league.
Despite the loss, senior goalkeeper Ithaisa Vinoly was significant in keeping the Panthers in contention with five saves.
Additionally, FIU managed to hold UAB under its season averages in shots (10.13/g) and goals (2.33/g), while limiting the Blazers to just one goal despite a significant 9-2 corner kick advantage and 8-3 edge in shots for the match.
Conversely, FIU had several opportunities in the Blazers' half of the pitch where Panthers were in position, though, failing to capitalize on such moments down the stretch.
Kennedy Floyd logged FIU's lone shot on goal in the second half, while Dominique Marcelli and Noemi Paquin logged a pair of shots to round out the Panther attack.
Nonetheless, Reagan Bridges, Idelys Vazquez, Nikole Solis and Catherine Rapp logged strong 90-minute efforts to give UAB all it could handle throughout the night.
A physical matchup between both squads, tonight's match featured a combined 24 fouls and three yellow cards.
Both teams played balanced to start the match, seeing both launch of pair of shots within the opening minutes as Marcelli took a set-piece shot from outside the 18-yard box in the 10th minute that'd unfortunately deflect off the wall of Blazers. The Blazers then started to find their footing, finding separation for a pair of shots that Vinoly would easily corral through the 20th minute of play.
FIU briefly found a break that saw Noemi Paquin close in from the right wing into the box, though, resulting in a wide shot and subsequent goal kick on the Panthers' lone other shot in the frame in the 22nd minute. Vinoly went on to bat down another UAB strike in the 32nd as both teams traded a barrage of fouls to eventually head into the intermission scoreless.
A lightning delay was summoned as both teams headed to the locker rooms, causing a 30-minute delay, though, FIU came out the break strong, seeing Paquin find space on the right side of the box in the 49th minute to flick a cross to Kennedy Floyd who lofted a shot that UAB's Eve Beyer was able to handle.
From there, UAB began to slowly take control of possession in hanging within FIU's half of the pitch and playing into a handful of corner kicks over a three-minute span. Ithaisa Vinoly managed to come to the rescue with a critical save on a header in the 62nd minute, however, the Blazers unfortunately replicated the scenario moments later to see UAB's Asha Zuniga fly in and zip a corner feed from Claire Rea in goal to break the silence in the 64th minute, 1-0.
The Blazers maintained its pressure on the Panthers, nabbing multiple additional corner kick opportunities prior to FIU making strides up the field midway through the 80th minute. The Panthers held a final chance on a set piece with roughly 40 seconds remaining, though, struggling to corral possession in the final moments to see UAB come away with the 1-0 win at the final horn.
UP NEXT
FIU returns to FIU Soccer Stadium this Sunday, Sept. 25, to host UTSA for an 11 a.m. matchup at FIU Soccer Stadium.
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