MATCH NOTES: Ospreys Conclude Road Trip at FIU

Thursday, August 26

Miami, Fla.

6:00 p.m.

University of North Florida

FIU

Women's soccer preview graphic for game at FIU featuring head shot of Ariana Munoz and a background image of team huddle

8/25/2021 4:41:00 PM | Women's Soccer

KICKOFF - The North Florida women's soccer team returns to the pitch following a hard fought 1-0 double overtime loss at No. 20 South Florida last week with the final contest of a three-match road stretch to open the 2021 campaign. The Ospreys will kickoff against in-state foe FIU on Thursday at 6 p.m. in Miami.

PITCH POINTS

North Florida slipped to 1-1-0 on the season after battling nationally-ranked USF in a 1-0 2OT loss | Ospreys held USF scoreless for over 102 minutes before surrendering a PK in the final minutes
Mercedes Sapp was named the ASUN Defensive Player of the Week after tallying 11 stops in the opening two matches including a UNF career best 6 stops versus Western Carolina
Against WCU in the season opener, sophomore Kayla Bond netted a brace in the first half to pace an Osprey offense that also got goals from newcomer Kate Carter and ASUN Player of the Year Thais Reiss | Ariana Munoz, Marissa House and Kendra Hoffman all collected assists in the opener
With her 34th career goal scored, Reiss is now just one shy of reaching Top 3 All-time in program history after already owning the program's DI Era mark
For a pair of Ospreys, Thursday's match will be a bit of a homecoming as Ariana Munoz played her first two collegiate seasons at the University of Miami | Freshman goalkeeper Sofia Miliancano is a Miami native and played her prep soccer at SAS
North Florida roster features 27 of 31 players hailing from the state of Florida
11 Ospreys are from or played their prep/club soccer in the 904 area code (Jacksonville, Northeast Florida) | Group includes Haynes Grant, Sydney Hauth, Emma Voigt, Ariana Munoz, Carmel Oliveira, Hannah Farmer, Lauren Weiss, Marissa House, Analiese Anderson, Kate Carter and Brielle Maloney
UNF was picked as co-favorite to win the ASUN this Fall along with Lipscomb
North Florida returns nine starters from their successful spring campaign and welcome 11 newcomers including several DI transfers
Thais Reiss and Mercedes Sapp were named the ASUN Preseason Player and Goalkeeper of the Year, respectively | Ariana Munoz was also named to the preseason All-Conference list
Reiss was selected for the Watch List of the MAC Hermann Trophy, presented to the National Player of the Year

SPRING REWIND

North Florida boasted an undefeated (6-0-0) record in ASUN play for the first time in program history and marked just the second time Ospreys have gone unblemished in conference play (2000: 5-0-0 in Peach Belt) | The Ospreys earned the ASUN South Division title
Going 10-2-0 during the spring season marked the second most wins in a season during the program's Division I era | UNF also amassed a double-digit win total for the second consecutive year after winning 11 contests in 2019
North Florida's seven-match win streak during the spring was the longest in the program's DI era and marked just the 5th time a UNF program has strung together 7 or more wins on the pitch (Record is 13 in 2000 followed by 8 in 2001 and 7 twice in 2002)
Ospreys had the ASUN Player of the Year (Thais Reiss), Goalkeeper of the Year (Mercedes Sapp) along with Ariana Munoz and Zara Siassi joining the duo on the First team All-ASUN list | Siassi and Haynes Grant were both named to the ASUN All-Freshman squad
Reiss led the ASUN in points (23), goals (9) and assists (5) | She ranked second in shots with 43 and topped the league with 7 multi-point matches
In the net, Sapp paced the ASUN in GAA (0.61) and wins (10) while listed second for Save% (78.8)
11 different Ospreys scored in the Spring with Reiss (9), Munoz (3), Oliveira (3) and Hoffman (3) amassing multiple goals scored
Ospreys were ranked No. 6 in the final United Soccer Coaches South Region poll (Spent six of eight weeks during the season in Top 5)

FAULCONER TALES
- Head coach Eric Faulconer's overall record stands at 262-107-31 in his 21st season | He owns a 22-9-2 mark in his third season leading the Ospreys | Faulconer-led team have reached double-digit victories in 18 consecutive seasons

SCOUTING REPORT

FIU: Enters the match with a 1-1-0 mark following a win vs Stetson (2-0) and loss at JU (3-2)
All-time Series Record: 4-3-1 | Last met on Feb. 12, 2021 in Jacksonville - Ospreys posted a 3-1 victory | Ariana Munoz netted a pair of goals in the win for UNF while Thais Reiss recorded a goal and two assists
Ospreys have claimed the last three meetings in the series including a 3-1 decision at FIU in 2019
North Florida is 2-2-1 all-time at FIU
UNF has outscored the Panthers 7-2 in the last 3 meetings
Panthers are opening their fall 2021 schedule with five straight matches against ASUN squads | Played Stetson and JU and still have matches versus Lipscomb and FGCU after facing the Ospreys
Laia Munoz Danon has a pair of goals for FIU this season while Sydney Amparo has handed out two assists
Goalkeeper Ithaisa Vinoly owns a 1.50 GAA this year with one shutout and no saves recorded
FIU junior Alex King is a native of Jacksonville Beach, Fla., and played her prep soccer at Stanton College Prep
Head coach Jonathan Garbar led the Panthers to a 3-9 mark during the spring after taking over the program in January 2021

“Obviously, this an important game for a variety of reasons. We need to respond well to our first loss of the season and I think we are still trying to find our identity as a team. FIU is much improved over last season and they have a whole new roster of players. This is definitely a good test for our players, as it will be our third straight road game to start the year, but I have never been a fan of making things easy. Winning isn’t easy and we need to learn to be prepared no matter what is thrown at us.”

Head Coach Eric Faulconer