Home opener for UM women, season opener for FIU men among soccer highlights this week
.JPG "Florida International University men’s soccer Head Coach Kevin Nylen before the game against the New Jersey Institute of Technology. The game was tied 2-2 on September 1, 2017 at Miami, Florida.")
Are you ready for some futbol?
It’s not just football season, but soccer is here as well for South Florida’s colleges and universities.
On Thursday, the Miami Hurricanes women’s soccer team will play its home opener at 7 p.m. against Florida Atlantic. The Canes finished 6-9-3 last season.
However, Miami finished the 2018 regular season by knocking off ninth-ranked Florida State 1-0 on freshman Mallory Olsson’s golden goal in the 97th minute.
On Friday, FIU’s men’s soccer team opens its 2019 season against visiting St. Bonaventure.
Kevin Nylen, set to begin his third season as FIU’s coach, has a balanced roster with eight seniors, six juniors, six sophomores and seven freshmen. FIU finished 7-10 last year but went 12-2-4 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2017.
Meanwhile, the Barry University Bucs and NSU Sharks women’s teams are ranked first and second — in that order — in the Sunshine State Conference preseason poll.
Barry, which won the league’s regular-season and tournament titles last year, is ranked 20th in the nation in the United Soccer Coaches poll. No other SSC team is in the top 25.
The Bucs will be led this year by Sarah Wiganall, a 5-9 senior midfielder who made second-team all-league last year. Of her four goals last season, three were game-winners.
NSU finished 13-7-1 last year and made the first round of the NCAA Tournament. However, the Sharks lost by a combined score of 9-0 in their final two games, including 6-0 to Barry.
Last, but certainly not least, Barry’s men’s national team is ranked No. 1 in the nation by United Soccer Coaches but just third in the league poll. The Bucs finished 16-4-3 last year, winning the first NCAA Division II national title in program history.
THIS AND THAT
▪ On Saturday, two former FIU soccer players — defender/midfielder Paul Marie and forward Santiago Patino — will meet in San Jose. Marie’s Earthquake will play host to Patino’s Orlando City Soccer Club. Both are former first-round picks: Patino third overall in 2019 and Marie 12th in 2018. Patino also plays for Colombia’s Under-23 national team.
▪ In a span of three weeks, FIU’s football team has added four attractive games to its future schedules: at UCF in 2020; at Texas Tech in 2021; home for UCF in 2022; and at Arkansas in 2023.
“Kids love to compete,” FIU coach Butch Davis said. “These games will serve as an important measuring stick for the growth of our program.”
▪ Davis said among his biggest concerns entering Thursday’s season-opener at Tulane will be depth on his offensive line and at punter, where junior-college transfer Tommy Heatherly replaces graduated standout Stone Wilson.
▪ Three starting positions are still being contested and may be game-time decisions: right guard (Shacquille Williams or Mershawn Miller); running back (Napoleon Maxwell or Anthony Jones, although both could be in the lineup simultaneously); and free safety (Richard Dames or Dorian Hall).
The backup quarterback job is also up for grabs between Kaylan Wiggins and Caleb Lyman.
▪ Iowa Hawkeyes transfer Josh Turner, a redshirt sophomore, is on the depth chart as a second-team cornerback, although he can also play safety. “He’s super smart and a very good athlete,” Davis said.
This story was originally published August 27, 2019 at 4:32 PM with the headline "Home opener for UM women, season opener for FIU men among soccer highlights this week."