FIU Panthers men's soccer

FIU Panthers men's soccer
Founded1972; 52 years ago (1972)
UniversityFlorida International University
Head coachKyle Russell (4th season)
ConferenceThe American
LocationWestchester, Florida
StadiumFIU Soccer Stadium
(Capacity: 2,000)
NicknamePanthers
ColorsBlue and gold[1]
   
Home
Away
NCAA Tournament championships
Division II: 1982, 1984
NCAA Tournament runner-up
Division I: 1996
Division II: 1980, 1985
NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals
Division II: 1977, 1979, 1983
NCAA Tournament Round of 16
Division I: 2003, 2022
Division II: 1978
NCAA Tournament appearances
Division I: 1991, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2015, 2017, 2021, 2022, 2023

Division II: 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985
Conference Tournament championships
TAAC: 1991
C-USA: 2015
The American: 2022
Conference Regular Season championships
ASC: 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004
C-USA: 2017, 2021
The American: 2022

The FIU Panthers men's soccer team is an intercollegiate varsity sports team of Florida International University. As of the upcoming 2022 season, the team is a member of the NCAA Division I American Athletic Conference (The American).

History

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FIU started their soccer program in 1972. They were unaffiliated from any collegiate organization until they joined the NCAA Division II from 1975 to 1986. During this time, FIU went to 11 NCAA Division II Tournaments where they won the national championships in 1982 and 1984 and runners up in 1980 and 1985.[2]

Due to the success of their program in Division II, they became an NCAA Division I team in 1987. The team has represented FIU at 8 NCAA Division I Tournaments finishing runners up in 1996.[2]

FIU's most recent conference change was announced during the 2021–22 offseason, when it left Conference USA (C-USA) for The American. The decision of the Sun Belt Conference to reinstate its men's soccer league effective with the 2022 season dropped the C-USA men's soccer membership to four (Charlotte, FIU, Florida Atlantic, UAB).[3] Of these four schools, all but FIU (which remains a full C-USA member) were scheduled to move fully to The American in the near future, with a July 2023 entry date later confirmed.[4] Accordingly, The American brought all four remaining C-USA men's soccer teams into its own soccer league. FIU will remain an affiliate of The American after the other three schools fully join that league.[5]

Conferences

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Throughout their history, the team has been part of several collegiate athletic conferences. They were members of the Trans America Athletic Conference (now known as the ASUN Conference) from 1991 to 1997 where they won the Conference Tournament in 1991. They joined the Atlantic Soccer Conference from 2000 to 2004 where they were Conference Regular Season Champions in 2000, 2002, 2003, and 2004. From 2005 to 2021, the team was a member of Conference USA,[2] and it joined the American Athletic Conference in 2022.

  • Independent (1972–1990)
  • TAAC (1991–1997)
  • Independent (1998–1999)
  • ASC (2000–2004)
  • C-USA (2005–2021)
  • The American (2022–present)

Roster

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As of 21 Sep 2024[6]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
0 GK United States USA Thomas Wallis
1 GK Spain ESP Beltran Fernandez
2 DF Denmark DEN Lucas Christensen
3 DF United States USA Owen Travis
4 DF Israel ISR David Houja
5 DF Mexico MEX Edgar Aguilar
6 MF France FRA Matthias Lavenant
7 FW Portugal POR Bernardo Dos Santos
8 MF United States USA David Boccuzzo
9 FW Mexico MEX Eduardo Mustre
10 MF Mexico MEX Diego Castillo
11 FW Ghana GHA Michael Appiah
12 FW United States USA Enrique Mutsoli
13 DF Mexico MEX Leo Vilchis
No. Pos. Nation Player
14 FW Republic of the Congo CGO Prince Ngeleka
15 MF United States USA Juan Pablo Correa
16 DF Mexico MEX Bruno Alcocer
17 MF United States USA Nicolas Villalobos
18 MF Portugal POR João Domíngues
19 DF Norway NOR Adrian Barosen
20 FW Mexico MEX JP Ozuna
21 MF France FRA Driss Nasser
22 MF France FRA Julien Gastaldy
24 DF France FRA Joackim Betina
25 FW Israel ISR Ron Arie
26 MF Turkmenistan TKM Adrian Ebersbach
27 DF United States USA Diego Sanchez
48 GK Netherlands NED Nigel Van Haveren

Coaches

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Current staff

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As of 21 Sep 2024
Position Staff
Head coach United States Kyle Russell
Associate head coach United States Dannie Merida
Assistant coach United States Lucas Champenois
Assistant coach Italy Matteo Gasperoni

All-time head coaches

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NAt. Coach Tenure
 USA Dr. Greg Myers 1972–1974
 USA Bill Nuttall 1975–1979
 GER Karl Kremser 1980–2007
 DRC Munga Eketebi 2007–2011
 USA Kenny Arena 2012–2013
 USA Scott Calabrese 2014–2016
 USA Kevin Nylen 2017–2020
 USA Kyle Russell 2020–Present

Notable alumni

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References

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  1. ^ "FIU Style Guide" (PDF). Retrieved July 12, 2022.
  2. ^ a b c "Media Guide" (PDF). 2015 FIU Men's Soccer Media Information Guide. Florida International University. 2015. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  3. ^ "Sun Belt Conference Announces Return of Men's Soccer This Fall" (Press release). Sun Belt Conference. April 6, 2022. Retrieved April 7, 2022.
  4. ^ "American Announces Entrance Agreements With Incoming Members for 2023-24 Season" (Press release). American Athletic Conference. June 16, 2022. Retrieved June 16, 2022.
  5. ^ "American Announces Affiliate Members in Men's Soccer and Women's Swimming and Diving" (Press release). American Athletic Conference. May 4, 2022. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
  6. ^ "Men's Soccer Roster". Florida International University.
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