BOCA RATON, Fla. – (Sept. 19, 2019) – Three first-half goals in the span of exactly eight minutes of match time helped propel Florida Atlantic University women’s soccer to a win in the team’s 2019 Conference USA opener, an eventual 4-0 decision over visiting Marshall.
The Turning Point:
The Owls (6-2-0, 1-0-0 C-USA) came out with a flurry, taking six shots in the first 20 minutes, but were yet unable to convert. It would be midfielder Gi Krstec that dealt the initial blow, capitalizing on a pass from Miracle Porter to open the scoring. Just 2:10 after that, it was Mary O’Hara’s turn, off a feed from Pernile Velta, and 5:50 later, Porter herself found the back of the net to make for the 3-0 edge.
The Finish:
The capper came early in the second period, with Velta’s second assist came on a connection to Sammy Vitols near the left post. As the offense created the 4-0 lead, the defense more than made it hold up, with just only one Marshall (2-6-0, 0-1-0 C-USA) shot coming after FAU’s first score. Cassidy Wasdin and Brianna Waggoner combined for the clean sheet in goal.
Notables:
· Missing the majority of last year due to injury, Krstec’s second FAU goal came more than a year after her first (Aug. 23, 2018)
· O’Hara continues to add on to her career-high total of goals in a season, leading the Owls with six in eight matches this year
· Porter and Vitols each have four, and the duo ties for second on the squad
· Assist-wise, Porter now has two this year and four in her career; Velta followed up her first of the season last match with two more tonight for three, and 14 in her fourth year
· A total of 23 Owls saw the pitch on Thursday
· With the win, FAU runs its all-time record to 244-243-35. It marks the first time the program has moved above .500 since Oct. 7, 2011, nearly eight years and 156 matches ago (at the time, 173-172-21)
Quotable:
“I thought we were exceptional at times (tonight), really exceptional,” said head coach Patrick Baker. “There’s three or four sequences that (it was) just a shame the ball didn’t end up in the back of the net, just with the sequences and the spacing and the timing of the runs and the quality of the pass … Even though we’ve had a couple of nailbiters up to this point, it was nice to get a little bit of a cushion, it was nice to get those three goals inside of about 10 minutes there in the first half.”
Full Video with Coach Baker:
What’s Next:
The Owls are back at home again Sunday, taking on out-of-conference foe Creighton at a later start time than normal, 6 p.m. As is every home match for the remainder of the season, admission is free to FAU Soccer Stadium.
– FAUSports.com –
Florida Atlantic University Athletics:
FAU Athletics is comprised of 21 intercollegiate teams involving 450 student-athletes that compete in baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, tennis, indoor and outdoor track, volleyball, beach volleyball, cheer and dance. The Owls are a NCAA Division I-A (FBS) institution and compete in Conference USA and the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association (CCSA) (beach volleyball, men’s swimming). The Owls have been playing football since 2001 and are a perfect 3-0 in bowl games, the most recent being a 50-3 victory over Akron in the 2017 Cheribundi Tart Cherry Boca Raton Bowl. The dance team finished its 2014 season No. 8, nationally. FAU cheer won a national championship in 2016.
About Florida Atlantic University:
Florida Atlantic University, established in 1961, officially opened its doors in 1964 as the fifth public university in Florida. Today, the University, with an annual economic impact of $6.3 billion, serves more than 30,000 undergraduate and graduate students at sites throughout its six county service region in southeast Florida. FAU’s world-class teaching and research faculty serves students through 10 colleges: the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, the College of Business, the College for Design and Social Inquiry, the College of Education, the College of Engineering and Computer Science, the Graduate College, the Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College, the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine, the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing and the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science. FAU is ranked as a High Research Activity institution by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The University is placing special focus on the rapid development of critical areas that form the basis of its strategic plan: Healthy aging, biotech, coastal and marine issues, neuroscience, regenerative medicine, informatics, lifespan and the environment. These areas provide opportunities for faculty and students to build upon FAU’s existing strengths in research and scholarship. For more information, visit www.fau.edu.
