FIU vs USA Box Score

MOBILE, Ala. - The 55-degree weather may have felt brisk to the FIU women's soccer team, but you wouldn't be able to tell from the way that they played on Friday night. The Golden Panthers won, 4-1, at South Alabama for their largest margin of victory on the road over a conference opponent in the last six years. FIU (7-5-3, 5-1-1) continued its unbeaten streak to six games.

The Jaguars (2-12-1, 0-6-1) attacked first from outside the box before the 10-minute mark, but freshman goalkeeper Kaitlyn Savage dove to  her left and drove the ball over the crossbar.

For the rest of the half, it was all FIU. Sophomore Thaisa Moreno notched the first multi-goal game of her career, scoring two goals in a nine-minute span. Senior Amy Jackson crossed the ball to Moreno on the left, outside of the box, and she slipped it past the goalkeeper for the first score. Then, with 11 minutes remaining in the half, Moreno received the ball from Deana Rossi and sailed the ball over defenders into the left corner of the net.

"Everyone was just really pumped up before, and you could tell it was going to be a good game," junior Kassandra Sorzano said. "We're just excited with how things are going this season and we're anxious to keep it up."

Less than two minutes later, senior captain Marina Pappas tied her career high for assists (3) on a free kick when she found Deana Rossi, who connected with the left, lower corner of the net for her third goal over the last two games.

Roughly 22 minutes into the second period, Pappas scored her first goal of the season off an assist by sophomore Katrina Rose. Rose has now tallied at least one point in four consecutive games.

"It took us a while to get into it, but once we scored, it was like the goals just kept coming," Pappas said. "We were just really aggressive around the net."

Even though the Jaguars scored with 10 minutes remaining in the game when Brandi Smith ricocheted the ball into the net off a corner kick, South Alabama was held to four shots on goal during the 90 minutes.

"Kaitlyn made a really good save in the first half, and we were able to contain them for the most part," sophomore midfielder Victoria Miliucci said.

FIU last defeated the Jaguars on the road on October 6, 2000. The 4-1 score was the largest margin of victory over a conference opponent on the road since Oct. 24, 2003 (at UALR, 6-2 win). The Golden Panthers head to Troy on Sunday at 2 p.m.

"I told the girls, we haven't peaked yet as a team, and it's exciting to know that," coach Thomas Chestnutt said. "We're very happy with the performance tonight. It's a great way to start the weekend, but now we have to get ready for Troy. Troy presents a whole other set of challenges for us."