FIU Men’s Soccer Knocked out of NCAA Tournament In Overtime Heartbreaker

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – The FIU Men’s Soccer team was able to take down the Mercer Bears in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, but the road to the top didn’t get any easier.

Against the Virginia Cavaliers in the second round, the Panthers just weren’t able to come out on top due to a Leo Alfonso late-game goal to seal it by a score of 2-1.

After over 30 minutes of back and forth with no goals scored, the Cavaliers were able to tack on the first goal of the match thanks to forward Leo Alfonso who was assisted by Mouhameth Thiam to give Virginia the early 1-0 lead in the 36th minute of play.

Three minutes later, the Panthers responded thanks to Joao Dominguez scoring his first tournament goal and receiving help from Kasper Skraep, who was credited for the assist. In the 39th minute of play, the Panthers tied the game at one apiece.

After scoring one goal throughout the entirety of the regular season, with the lone goal coming against the Temple Owls in conference play, Dominguez came in a big moment to give the Panthers an equalizer.

After a second half that saw no action from either team, the game went into the first 10-minute overtime period where Leo Alfonso, who scored the first goal for the Cavaliers, once again gave Virginia the lead as he received a pass from Austin Rome, and Paul Wiese to give the Cavaliers a 2-1 advantage.

FIU was unable to score an equalizer and that would be the end of the road for the Panthers in the NCAA Tournament. After reaching the Sweet 16 last year, FIU bounced in just the second round in 2023.

Although the Panthers saw more overall shots throughout the afternoon, the Cavaliers’ shots were taken at the right time, as two of their three were on goal. Virginia now will move on to take on either Wake Forest or Indiana.