FIU moved into first place with a win over Charlotte. The Panthers also clinched a spot in The American Men's Soccer Tournament, as well as Tulsa, SMU, South Florida and Memphis.
Friday, October 28
FIU 3, Charlotte 2 – Box Score
Tulsa 1, UCF 0 – Box Score
South Florida 2, Memphis 0 – Box Score
FAU 2, SMU 1 – Box Score
Temple 1, UAB 1 – Box Score
Recaps
FIU 3, Charlotte 2 – Box Score
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Men's Soccer was on the road, Friday night, to take on No. 14 Charlotte, earning a crucial conference win, 3-2. The win moves the Panthers to the top of the America Athletic Conference table.
The match started out as a defensive struggle with neither side giving an inch.
Charlotte would break the deadlock in the 33rd minute.
FIU's offense started to open up as the first half wore on, creating multiple chances, but would go into halftime trailing, 1-0.
The Panthers came out with purpose in the second half, applying pressure throughout.
FIU found an equalizer in the 54th minute. Yushi Nagao found space down the left wing and fired in a strong cross that was headed home by Rasmus Tobinski, his first goal of the season.
The Panthers continued pouring on the pressure, eventually scoring a flurry of goals.
Carlos Scheckermann put FIU ahead in the 71st minute. Julian Hodek put in a great corner kick ,which Scheckermann met in the air and redirected into goal.
Just a minute later the Panthers would score again. Fumiya Shiraishi dribbled his way up to the face of the Miners goal and blasted his shot into the upper netting, giving FIU a 3-1 advantage.
75 seconds later, Charlotte scored again to bring the score to 3-2.
The Panther defense would hold strong against a last ditch attack by Charlotte and see the victory out.
Going into the final week of the regular season, FIU and Tulsa both own 5-2-1 records and sit atop The American standings. The Panthers defeated Tulsa earlier in the season, 3-0.
Tulsa 1, UCF 0 – Box Score
TULSA, Okla. - Wes Bottenburg scored the lone goal to give Tulsa's seventh-ranked men's soccer team a 1-0 win over UCF on Friday night at the Hurricane Soccer and Track Stadium. The Golden Hurricane moved 9-2-2 on the season and 5-2-1 in American Athletic Conference play, while the Knights fell to 6-6 overall and 3-5 in the league.
Wes Bottenburg headed in a corner kick taken by Sergio Baena at the 74:24 mark. It was Bottenburg's second goal on the season.
Tulsa had an 18-2 lead in shots, including a 6-1 advantage in shots on goal
Tulsa had a 6-0 lead in corner kicks
Sergio Baena had a team-best five shots, while Alex Meinhard added four attempts
Cedrik Stern logged all 90 minutes in goal and picked up one save for the clean sheet.
UCF ended up playing with just nine players as Gino Viv was issued a red card at 54:23 mark and then Andres Hernandez picked up a red card in the 80th minute
South Florida 2, Memphis 0 – Box Score
TAMPA, Fla. – TAMPA – The University of South Florida men's soccer team earned a 2-0 win over Memphis on Senior Night at Corbett Stadium in a crucial American Athletic Conference matchup. The victory, the Bulls' second-straight, improves the Green and Gold to 5-5-4 on the year and 4-1-3 in The American while the Tigers fall to 7-4-4 overall and 4-3-1 in league play. In addition, South Florida is unbeaten in eight of its last 10 matches.
With the win, the Bulls, who came into the night in sole possession of fifth place, were catapulted into a tie with SMU for third place with 15 points apiece. South Florida and the Mustangs are both just one point behind the league leaders Tulsa and FIU who each have 16 points.
Harvard transfer and graduate student, Alfred Perez got the Bulls on the board first and sent the South Florida faithful into a frenzy in the 67'. Perez took a pass from Jeffrey "JT" Copper, played it off his chest, popped the ball into the air, and finished with a brilliant bicycle kick to the left post and past Memphis goalkeeper Colin Welsh to make the score 1-0. The score was Perez's second of the season.
Not to be outdone, Sergio Pineros-Mayorga, one of four seniors honored before the match, scored his first career goal in the 83' with a bending laser to the top far corner of the goal and past the diving Welsh who had no chance for the save.
FAU 2, SMU 1 – Box Score
BOCA RATON, Fla. - No. 12 SMU fell to FAU 2-1 Friday night at FAU Soccer Stadium.
The Mustangs held a decisive 23-9 advantage in shots, including seven on goal. Additionally, the Mustangs held a 15-1 edge in corner kicks.
FAU jumped out to a 1-0 lead when Sebastian Zettl scored in the 15th minute.
Just before halftime, Kyran Chambron Pinho shot from behind the left corner of the 18, scoring on the right side of the goal to earn the Mustangs the equalizer. The goal marked Pinho's second score of the season.
FAU's Andreas Raisanen regained the Owl lead in the 81st minute.
Temple 1, UAB 1 – Box Score
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Temple men's soccer team played to a 1-1 draw at UAB Friday night to close out its road slate. With the tie, the Owls sit at 4-8-3 (1-6-1 AAC).
Temple dominated the offensive game in the first half, firing six shots to UAB's two.
The Blazers would get on the board first, scoring at the 36-mminute mark to take a 1-0 lead into halftime.
The Owls would answer quickly, with Fridtjof Andberg finding the equalier less than five minutes into the second half.
Both teams turned up the attack to score the go-ahead goal, but neither team was able to convert before the clock hit zero.