FIU Men hold off Hatters

The Golden Panthers got their first goal of the season off the foot of Juan Guerra, but it wasn't enough as the defense allowed four goals and FIU fell 4-1 to Stetson on Friday night. Stetson's Eugene Starikov was a thorn on the Golden Panthers' side all night as he scored twice and assisted on the Hatters' two other goals.



FIU fell behind 2-0 in the first half as Starikov scored both his goals in a five minute span, giving Stetson a two-goal lead after 33 minutes of play.



The Golden Panthers cut the lead in half in the 57th minute when C-USA Preseason Offensive Player of the Year Juan Guerra scored the team's first goal of the season. However, just seven minutes later the Hatters lead swelled back up to two goals as Starikov set up Kirk Labusch who found the back of the net to make the score 3-1. In the 71st minute, the lead grew to 4-1 as Starikov worked a give-and-go with Richard Porteous for Stetson's fourth goal of the match.



FIU was outshot 22-11 on the match, as they dropped to 0-3 on the season. The Golden Panthers have now been outscored 10-1 in the first three matches of the year. FIU returns to University Park on Sunday at noon as they look to reverse their fortunes when they host the Kangaroos of UMKC.