BOCA RATON, Fla. – (Oct. 27, 2019) – The Florida Atlantic University women’s soccer held off Rice for a 3-2 Sunday afternoon victory at FAU Soccer Stadium, making Pernille Velta’s two first-half goals stand up. The Owls (13-3-1, 7-1-1 C-USA) not only moved ahead of Rice in the Conference USA ledger, but because Charlotte lost to UTSA, leapt over the 49ers as well to sit in first place all alone with one match to go.
The Turning Point:
FAU needed just 3:04 to take the early lead, with Velta showing off her moves in the box to beat the Rice (9-5-2, 6-1-2 USA) keeper left. She then doubled the advantage in the 19th minute on a penalty kick, her second successful PK of the weekend.
The Finish:
Rice scored first in the second half, but FAU went back out ahead 3-1 when Velta and Sammy Vitols flipped responsibilities (on the very first goal, Vitols got the assist; this time, Velta earned the helper). Though Rice made good on a PK of their own with under five minutes left, the homestanding Owls held off the visiting Owls for the remaining 4:13 of the match for the three points.
Notables:
· Velta’s goals were her seventh and eighth of the season, and she posted her fourth assist, continuing to share the team high with Vitols
· In addition to her fourth assist, Vitols now has six scores
· After seven saves Friday, Cassidy Wasdin recorded five more Sunday in picking up her 12th win of the year
· On a hot Sunday afternoon, just Wasdin, Luisa Daikeler, Alex Maxson and Jessica Monteiro played the entire match; the home Owls went 19 players deep on the day
· The 13th victory of the season is the most in the Coach Baker era. The 2005 team was the last to surpass that total, with 16
Quotable:
“We had a great start … off to a 2-0 start (early),” said head coach Patrick Baker. “We found the goal to go up 3-1, ‘P’ (Pernille Velta) has two goals and an assist, which is remarkable, happy for her … Just couldn’t be happier. To pick up two pretty significant wins, not only in conference but in the region, and now you’re talking about a real special season, you go to 13-3-1 and you’ve got one game left. Just proud of how we gutted it out.”
“Today was huge,” said senior midfielder Mary O’Hara. “We were really excited about Friday, and then kind of just turned it off yesterday and got back to (being) focused. Everybody’s full attention was on today because we knew it was going to be a really tough game against a really tough team.”
Full Video with Coach Baker:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73W5jrc2H5g
Full Video with Mary O’Hara:
What’s Next:
The Owls are in the driver’s seat for potentially C-USA’s No. 1 seed, at 22 points with a match to go (Charlotte and North Texas each have 21 points; Rice has 20). The final match on FAU’s schedule is this upcoming Friday, Senior Night, against FIU (2-14-0, 0-9-0 C-USA). Kickoff is at 7 p.m., and the Class of 2019 – 10 members of the squad – will be celebrated beforehand.
– 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.
