FIU men’s soccer team stuns No. 1 defending NCAA champion Marshall 4-1 for C-USA title
The 19th-ranked FIU men’s soccer team scored one of its biggest upsets in program history Friday night, knocking off No. 1 ranked and defending national champion Marshall 4-1 in front of a sold-out crowd at FIU Soccer Stadium.
With the win, the Panthers secured the Conference USA regular season championship and enter the conference tournament in Charlotte, NC as the No. 1 seed. FIU is 12-2-2 and undefeated in the conference (7-0-1).
“It is hard to put into words how exciting and fun tonight was,” FIU coach Kyle Russell said. “Our field, our bleachers, our stadium — it was packed. The band, the cheerleaders, the alumni, friends of the family, the student body, there was nowhere to sit tonight, it was completely packed. It was an incredible atmosphere for soccer.”
“Marshall is an awesome team, they are No. 1 in the country, but with that being said we trained for this all year long,” Russell said. “Every practice mattered. We compete in games like every game is a championship game. So, this was nothing new for us. It was a total team effort.”
Marshall took an early lead with a penalty kick in the 13th minute, but FIU scored two first-half goals and another two in the second half. Spaniard Mauro Bravo had a goal and an assist for the Panthers. The other three goals were scored by Rasmus Tobinski (Germany), Stephen Afrifa (Canada), and Matteo Gasperoni (Italy) with assists by Edgar Aguillar (Mexico), Matias Barranza (Doral Academy alum), Kareem Riley (Trinidad and Tobago).
The Panthers outshot the Herd 24-11 and earned seven corner kicks to Marshall’s two. It was Marshall’s first loss over its past 13 matches and its first loss in conference play since Oct. 26, 2019 — a span of 17 matches.