Colombian goalie aims to lead FIU women’s soccer team to an encore

Valery Restrepo was about seven years old when she discovered she was born to be a goalie.

Restrepo, a native of Medellin in Colombia, was often the only girl in her neighborhood’s pick-up soccer games.

“I wasn’t that good with my feet,” Restrepo said. “But when they put me in goal, I blocked everything, which made the boys mad. And I liked making the boys mad.”

Fast forward 13 years, and Restrepo, 20, now makes a lot of women’s soccer players mad.

Last year, in her first season at FIU, Restrepo started all 17 of her team’s games, leading the Panthers to the first Conference USA tournament championship in program history. She posted a 0.78 goals-against average and made second-team All-C-USA. She also led C-USA in shutouts with eight.

This year, she made the preseason All-C-USA first team.

The issue for FIU, however, is that Jonathan Garbar – who did an outstanding job turning around what had been a losing program – bolted after last season and is now the associate head coach at Mississippi State.

FIU’s new coach is Mat Dunn, who had zero experience at the Division I level prior to this season.

Even so, Dunn won two NAIA national titles with Keiser (2019, 2020). In fact, in 14 years at Keiser, the team made six trips to the Final Four. All of that is especially noteworthy because Keiser had never previously won a national title in women’s soccer before Dunn arrived.

At FIU, Dunn inherits just three returning starters, which is what makes Restrepo’s presence on the team even more important.

“It’s great to have an all-conference goalie returning,” said Dunn, a native of England. “Valery brings great knowledge and reactions. She’s a great shot-stopper, even from close range.”

All totaled, FIU has 14 returners and 14 newcomers on its 2025 squad. Besides Restrepo, the other returning starters are Zora Jackson, a second-team All-C-USA defender; and forward Brealyn Viamille. Both of them are seniors.

Among the newcomers is Cumberland (Kentucky) transfer forward Jayden Boelter, the 2024 NAIA Player of the Year who has not looked out of place this fall at the Division I level, according to Dunn.

Other players to watch include defensive midfielder Roxy Brewer, a freshman from West Palm Beach; midfielder Chinatsu Kaio, a senior from Japan; and forward Delfina Lombardi, a transfer from Keiser.

Lombardi will play for Argentina’s national Under-20 team in December.

FIU lost its season opener 2-0 at third-ranked Florida State on Sunday night, and the Panthers will play again on Thursday at North Florida.

The Panthers will start their Conference USA schedule on Sept. 21 at Delaware.

Restrepo, a Psychology major, will, of course, be a key part of FIU’s hopes of repeating as C-USA champs.

The goalie, who made three saves against FSU, has a pre-game routine that includes meditation, visualization and written affirmations.

So far, it’s working as Restrepo made Colombia’s junior national team as the backup goalie for a 2022 international tournament in Costa Rica.

“When I heard the Colombian national anthem before the game, I started crying,” Restrepo said. “It was an amazing feeling.”

Restrepo said she’s also thrilled to play at FIU, and she credits her parents – Edgar Restrepo and Sandra Rios – for supporting her dream from Day One.

“I wanted to play soccer but also study and have a backup plan in life,” Restrepo said.

“I was nervous when I got here – new city, new language, new school … new everything. Now I feel much more comfortable, and I’m super grateful to everyone who has helped me.”

This story was originally published August 19, 2025 at 9:41 AM.