It was senior day in Paradise as the Owls hosted East Carolina (7-3-6, 4-2-3 AAC) in an important match for postseason play. While the offenses were even, a dominant ECU first half led to a victory for the Pirates against FAU.
The first half was all Pirates. In the 14th minute ECU’s Samantha Moxie scored the first goal of the match as East Carolina took a 1-0 lead. Following that, Caitlen-Star Dolan Boodram found the bottom right of the goal to give the Pirates a two goal lead.
The defense of ECU slowed down the Owls as they were not able to find a shot in the first half while ECU had three shots with all three being on goal.
The first 20 minutes of the first half was great offensively for Florida Atlantic as the Owls evened the shots tally with ECU and found a shot on goal, but no goal was found as the Owls trailed by two with 25 minutes left.
ECU parked the bus the remainder of the match as they had one shot in the second half. FAU’s offense found opportunities but only one shot on goal was not enough as the Owls fell 2-0 on senior day.
Both teams finished with four shots. ECU had all three shots on goal in the first half while FAU’s lone shot on goal was in the second. FAU dominated in corner attempts as they had five compared to the Pirates zero. Four Owls had one shot including seniors Sloane Young and Jodi Smith. Lexi Gonzalez (pictured above, Angelina LaBelle) allowed two goals with one save while ECU’s Maeve English saved the one attempt she faced.
Florida Atlantic is now on the outside looking in for the AAC Tournament as they currently sit in tenth. The top eight make it and every team above FAU has the tiebreaker except for Charlotte who sits in seventh. There are two scenarios for FAU to get in:
1. Florida Atlantic beats UTSA and Tulsa earns at most one point in their final two matches.
2. Florida Atlantic beats UTSA and Charlotte loses to Temple on Oct. 30
Regardless, the Owls are in a must win situation.
The Owls (3-10-4, 2-5-2 AAC) will play their final regular season match against UTSA (7-7-3, 2-5-2 AAC). It is a must win for both teams so expect one of the most aggressive matches of the season. FAU is 2-2-4 all time against the Roadrunners. This match the win column will need to be added to since the Owls have not beat UTSA since 2019. The match starts at 8 p.m. on Oct. 31.