FIU Panthers left out of NCAA men’s soccer tournament

The FIU Panthers men’s soccer team, which went undefeated for the first two months of the season, was denied entry into the NCAA Tournament on Monday as the 48-team field was announced.

There were 24 teams who got automatic bids, but FIU lost its chance at one of those spots when the Panthers lost 1-0 to Charlotte in the Conference USA semifinals Friday.

The NCAA also awarded bids to 24 at-large teams, and the Panthers (10-3-5) failed to get one of those due to a late-season slump.

FIU, which at one point this season was ranked 11th in the country, went 1-3-0 in its final four matches.

But the Panthers, who last made the NCAA tournament in 2017, still had a solid season, and several of their players earned all-league attention:

▪ Nick O’Callaghan, a senior defender, last week was named Conference USA’s Co-Defensive Player of the Year.

▪ Senior Andrew Booth was named the league’s Midfielder of the Year after leading FIU with 14 points. He led an attack that ranked ninth nationally with 2.38 goals per game.

▪ Junior midfielder Alessandro Campoy, who scored five goals, won the league’s Golden Boot award.

▪ Senior midfielder Alban Rousselet made second-team all-league.

▪ Senior goalie Daniel Gagliardi, freshman defender David Garcia and junior midfielder Xavi Olmos Ferris made third-team all-league.

▪ Defender Anthony Cousins — along with Garcia — made the league’s All-Freshmen team.

▪ The St. Thomas University Bobcats are headed to Marshall, Mo., to compete in the NAIA Opening Round. This is the fourth time in program history, first since 2017, that the Bobcats have advanced to the Opening Round of the National Tournament.

FIU men on road

FIU’s men’s basketball team (1-2) travels to Cleveland State (1-3) on Tuesday.

FIU has been impressive in its two losses because of the way the Panthers competed against schools from major conferences.

This past Wednesday, FIU led North Carolina State by 10 points before falling 86-77. On Nov. 5, FIU led Mississippi State for the first 12 minutes before going down 77-69.

FIU’s only win is against an NAIA school, Ave Maria.

This story was originally published November 18, 2019 at 3:39 PM.