MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The Florida Atlantic University women’s soccer team has clinched its eighth consecutive berth to the Conference USA Championship Tournament. The Owls locked up their ticket to the postseason with a 3-0 win at Middle Tennessee on Sunday. With only one game to go in the season, FAU now stands at 8-7-3 and 4-4-1 in C-USA action.
The Owls took command of the match in the first half when Gi Krstec put FAU ahead 1-0. Krstec recorded the first goal of the afternoon in the 29th minute off assists from Elin Simonardottir and Luisa Daikeler.
FAU took a 1-0 lead into halftime; however the Owls were not satisfied with the small lead. Mia Sennes doubled up the lead with a header in the 51st minute. Sennes created a corner kick with a strong move down on the end line, then Hailey Landrus sent in a perfect set piece that found the head of Sennes to make it 2-0.
Thelma Hermannsdottir recorded the final goal of the afternoon five minutes after Sennes’. Hermannsdottir took it herself for the unassisted goal to put the exclamation mark on the Owls’ victory.
QUOTES FROM THE OWLS
“Today was a really good road win for us,” head coach Patrick Baker said. “To come on the road and get a clean sheet with three goals was the recipe that we needed. I though the girls did a really nice job today. We had a week of preparation, which is kind of unheard of this time of year, but that’s how the schedule laid out. We’re proud of the collective effort and had three different goal scorers. We’re happy for the girls, happy that we got back to .500 in the conference and punched our ticket to the conference tournament. You just want to be one of those eight teams who get to go to Charlotte, then see what happens from there.”
QUICK HITS
- Krstec’s goal is her fifth on the season, which ties her at second on the team
- Hermannsdottir notches her fifth score of the season as well. She has scored four of those over the course of the last four games
- Sennes recorded her third goal of the season
- Landrus tallied her sixth assist of the year, which leads the team
- Daikeler collected her second assist in as many games
- FAU controlled the pace of the game, out-shooting Middle Tennessee 12-3. The Owls also had a 6-0 edge in corner kicks
- FAU’s stout defense pitched its eighth shutout of the season
- Lexi Gonzalez and Blythe Braun combined for the shutout in net
FOLLOW FAU ON SOCIAL MEDIA
The Owls will host FIU for the final regular-season match this Wednesday, Oct. 26, with kickoff at 7 p.m.
FOLLOW FAU ON SOCIAL MEDIA
To stay up to date on all things FAU women’s soccer, follow the Owls on social media @FAUWSoccer.
