Nov. 2, 2002

Box Score

In a match delayed two hours by heavy rains and lightening around University Park, the FIU men's soccer team (9-4-1, 3-0-1 ASC) stretched its unbeaten streak to 10, with a 5-3 Atlantic Soccer Conference victory over Adelphi (4-10-1, 2-1-1), late Friday.

The Golden Panthers win sets up a winner-take-all meeting with No. 24-ranked Hartwick (9-5-2, 4-0-0), Sunday at one o'clock at FIU for the league's automatic NCAA Tournament berth in the ASC finale for both squads.

Friday against Adelphi, FIU outshot the Panthers 14-4 in the opening half, yet led only 3-2 before Oscar Gil scored his fifth goal of the season on a header off a corner kick by Jared Rose with 27 seconds remaining before the break.

With an eye toward the Hartwick battle, head coach Karl Kremser cleared his bench in the second half in an attempt to rest his starters. But when Jorrell Best's goal brought Adelphi to within 4-3 in the 76th minute, Kremser's strategy quickly changed as nearly the entire starting unit reentered the contest.

And the substitutions worked as John Pulido responded in the 79th minute with his second goal of the evening, off a crossing pass by Alvaro Aservi, for the final margin of victory.

FIU couldn't shake the pesky Panthers in the first half. FIU's Adam Wilson scored from point-blank range just 2:37 into the match but Adelphi tied the score at 1 when Haruto Imamura capitalized on a deflection off FIU goalkeeper Roy Rosenberg.

Pulido and Lucas Scudeler each tallied goals for FIU midway through the first half for a 3-1 advantage until Tal Sheinfeld's unassisted goal against an out-of-position Rosenberg tightened the game to 3-2 in the 41st minute of play.

Overall, FIU outshot Adelphi 24-11, forcing Panthers goalkeeper Igor Yatsenko to make eight saves, while Rosenberg recorded only two.