MIAMI (Sept. 7. 2013) — The FIU women’s soccer team (1-3-0) returns to action Sunday afternoon against Cleveland State (3-3-0) at 1 p.m. at the FIU Soccer Stadium.

The Panthers are looking to notch their first home victory of the season and are facing a CSU team who is coming off a 6-1 loss against Miami on Friday. The Vikings started the season with three-straight wins but have since dropped consecutive matches against Kent State, Western Michigan and Miami. In those three games, CSU has only scored one goal, while surrendering eight.

The Vikings have scored six goals by six different players on the season. They play a team game, which is something FIU is used to.

“It doesn’t make it easier or harder to cover an offense that spreads the field,” said senior Nicole DiPerna. “We play a similar style, so we’ll be familiar with it.”

FIU is coming off a tightly played game against FGCU on Friday night. The team ultimately lost the match, 2-1, but spent a lot of time outside of its own box.

“We really want to have an impressive performance on Sunday before we hit the road for the next two weekends,” said Head Coach Thomas Chestnutt. “Cleveland State will certainly give us a different look than FGCU. We’re excited to play them.”

This is the first match between these two teams in school history, with CSU being part of the Horizon League.

With FIU still searching for its first home victory of the season, the Panthers have seen attendance numbers remain high, with crowds chanting the duration of the match.

“We promise to have an exciting game and always love when the fans come out to support us,” said Chestnutt.

Fans are encouraged to follow the Panthers on Twitter (@FIUWomensSoccer) and become a fan on Facebook (Facebook.com/FIUWSoccer) for all the latest FIU women’s soccer news. Follow all of FIU’s 18 athletic teams on Google+ (FIU Athletics), Twitter (@FIUAthletics), Facebook (Facebook.com/FIUSports), YouTube (FIUPanthers), and Instagram (FIUathletics).

About FIU Athletics: FIU Athletics is home to more than 400 student-athletes in 18 different sports. Athletic events are played in seven different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including U.S. Century Bank Arena and Alfonso Field at FIU Stadium.

About FIU: Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. Its colleges and schools offer more than 180 bachelor¹s, master¹s and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida¹s anchor institutions, FIU is Worlds Ahead in its local and global engagement, finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission. FIU has awarded 200,000 degrees and enrolls 50,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. FIU is a member of Conference USA and has 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu

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