FIU men’s soccer team loses to Wake Forest in second round of NCAA tournament

A Wake Forest goal followed by a handstand and a back flip.

An FIU blast of a goal preceded by pushing and shoving in a Wake Forest attempt to intimidate.

Five total goals. A packed and lively crowd crammed into tiny bleachers, with an overflow of people standing up and lining the fences. And an FIU band that kept the horns blaring all game long.

Yep, Sunday night’s men’s soccer NCAA tournament game — the first hosted by FIU in four years — had drama and excitement.

In the end, however, Wake Forest emerged with a 3-2 victory, ending FIU’s season.

Wake (13-6-1) advances to a Sweet 16 date with ACC champion Notre Dame.

FIU (12-4-2), which hasn’t been to the Sweet 16 since 2003, got the aforementioned free-kick blast from Mauro Bravo as well as a goal by Matteo Gasperoni.

The Panthers outshot Wake 18-6.

However, it was Wake Forest’s counterattack that doomed FIU. Both of FIU’s goals were followed by a Wake score within one minute.

Wake Forest took a 1-0 lead on Kyle Holcomb’s goal in the 27th minute, assisted by Julian Kennedy.

That tally — which beat FIU goalie Tyler Hogan — came against the run of play as FIU had been dominating time of possession and shot attempts.

It was Holcomb’s third goal of the 2021 playoffs. His 33 career goals rank him eighth in Wake history, and his 12 goals this year are just four short of the national lead.

FIU tied the score 1-1 on Bravo’s wicked free kick in the 39th minute. In a bit of gamesmanship, a Wake player had lingered where Bravo was attempting to shoot. Bravo — as befitting his name — pushed him away.

However, one minute later, the Wake counterattack struck again as Chase Oliver’s goal gave the Demon Deacons a 2-1 lead. Similar to Holcomb’s goal, Oliver struck a low shot from the right side to the far post.

It was more finesse than power but well placed, and Oliver responded with his back flip.

Wake took that 2-1 lead into halftime, but FIU tied the score in the 63rd minute as Julian Hodak’s long throw-in led to Gasperoni’s goal.

But — boom — just 26 seconds later, Wake had the answer on freshman Roald Mitchell’s game-winning goal. Garrison Tubbs provided the assist, dribbling into the box before dishing to Mitchell for the kill shot.

FIU hunted the equalizer for the final 27 minutes, and the Panthers had some near misses.

But it wasn’t enough.

Still, it was a great year for the Panthers, who were the only men’s soccer team in Florida to make the NCAA field.

This was the first time FIU hosted a men’s soccer NCAA tournament game since 2017, when the Panthers defeated Omaha 2-1.

It was also the first time Wake had visited FIU since 1994. FIU won that meeting 4-1.

FIU, seeded 13th out of the 48 teams that started the tournament, was awarded a first-round bye.

But Wake Forest, which has appeared in 11 straight NCAA tournaments, proved to be a worthy second-round opponent.

This story was originally published November 21, 2021 at 9:42 PM.