Panthers Spoil The Knights Historic Start in 1-0 Faceoff Win

FIU Women’s Soccer spoiled the Knights’ best start in their program’s history tonight with a 1-0 victory in Orlando. UCF battled all night, but its five-game win streak came to an end after not being able to find the back of the net.

FIU Breaks the Ice, And That’s It

Noa ➡️ Monty 🟰Panthers on top! pic.twitter.com/w7gTR9IAlU

— FIU Women's Soccer (@FIUWSoccer) September 4, 2025

FIU’s breakthrough came in the 37th minute of the match against UCF. Noa Ganthier set up her teammate at midfield for her 5th goal of the season. You guessed it….Montelene Dymond came through with plenty of space, sprinting down the field with nobody in front of her to take the lead.

With 33 minutes to play, FIU continued to press forward, attacking and keeping the Knights uncomfortable. Dymond nearly added another goal on a second fastbreak, but UCF denied the look, and FIU settled for the corner kick.

When Natalia Ballinas took the field, she didn’t take long to attempt her first shot against her former team. Appearing for the Knights in her first two seasons before transferring to FIU. The shot from deep would miss wide, keeping the score at 1-0.

The Knights created their best opportunities late in the half, but Restrepo continued to shine for the Panthers. Stopping Tyra Eriksen’s shot from the wing with 25 minutes to play, keeping the Knights off the scoreboard.

Ainsley Moy had the best look of the night but sent the ball just over the crossbar. Liz Worden was a force and remained active, finding space and setting up teammates, with her first attempt at goal being just left.

Panthers Ready to Pounce

When the commentator asked about the legs of the Panther players for the second half, head coach Matt Dunn noted at the half, “Legs will be just fine, we conditioned for it…” with a light chuckle. Coach was right, that was exactly the case in the second half. FIU continued to pressure in the early minutes, spreading UCF everywhere on the field.

Montelene Dymond came firing out of the half for the Panthers, attempting two very good looks within a few minutes of each other. With both goals not finding the back of the net, UCF goalie Genesis Peres saves it just in time to prevent another Panther score.

FIU continued to hold UCF to no score despite their fierce attempt to see one go in. Restrepo managed to save a close shot by the Knights’ Honoka Hamano. Liz Warden had her time to shine, playing very well for the Knights and trying to replicate her first-half performance.

She had a few good looks that were promising, but nothing fell through. Restrepo earned her second clean sheet of the season in back-to-back games, hoping to beat last season’s number of eight.

The Road Ahead

UCF tried everything it could tonight to tie this game, but FIU refused to let up. The Panthers will get their third win of the season and will head back to Miami, but won’t be playing at home just yet. They will face the Miami Hurricanes at Cobb Stadium this Sunday, hoping to add another win during their six-game road game stretch.

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