MIAMI – Saint Mary's Men's Soccer went out in front early against No. 23 Florida International, before the Panthers scored five unanswered goals in a 5-1 non-conference loss for the Gaels.
 
The Gaels struck first when Riley Lynch kept the pressure on the Panthers defense when they tried to play the ball back to their defense. Justin Sosa and George Herbert converged on an FIU player at the midfield stripe, creating a deflection that sent the ball all the way into the Panther backfield at high speed.
 
As a defender slid down to stop the ball from rolling back further and away from Lynch, the Chandler, Ariz. native kept pushing ahead and took possession of the ball on the run. He would take it all the way to the edge of the six-yard box, fake out the keeper and put it in the back of the net with a left-footed shot. It was Lynch's fifth goal of the season and put Saint Mary's up 1-0 in the 18th minute.
 
An odd bounce would equalize the game for FIU, when a cross took an odd hop off the foot of Luke Lawrence and a Panthers forward. That allowed Simon Afrifa to come up with the ball in the box and fire a shot under a diving attempt by keeper Sebastian Ramirez, making it 1-1 in the 36th minute.
 
Florida International would get going downhill in the second half, continuing their trend of strong play in the final 45 minutes. They would score in the 61st and 63rd minute to open up a 3-1 lead. They would make it a 4-1 game in the 75th minute and penalty kick goal would make it 5-0 in the 79th minute.
 
The Panthers outshot the Gaels 15-2 overall and 8-1 on target in the game, and possessed the ball for 65% of the match.
 
UP NEXT
SMC remains on the road as they will head to Spokane, Wash. to take on Gonzaga at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 21.

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