Women's Soccer Tops Rice 3-2 in 2OT

Sunday, October 4

Houston, Texas

2:00 PM

Florida Atlantic

7-7-0, 1-3-0

Rice

6-5-1, 3-2-1

OT 1

OT 2

FAU

Rice

10/4/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

Oct. 4, 2015

Final Stats

HOUSTON, Texas -- A 102nd minute goal by junior Geovana Alves lifted the Florida Atlantic University women's soccer team to a 3-2, two-overtime victory at Rice on Sunday.

FAU (7-7, 1-3 C-USA) snaps a six-match losing streak and earns its first Conference USA win of the season with the decision.

"I am happy for our young ladies today and excited we were able to find a way to get three points on the afternoon," FAU Head Coach Patrick Baker said. "Rice is a very talented team and well coached."

Rice (6-5-1, 3-2-1 C-USA) took an impressive 22 shots in the contest and scored first in the 30th minute on a goal by Danielle Spriggs.

Just four minutes later, FAU's Sammy Rowland scored the equalizer off an assist by Taylor Townsend from just inside of 20 yards. The goal marked Rowland's first as an Owl.

After another four minutes, another goal gave FAU the lead as sophomore Alex Mastrobuono scored her first collegiate goal on an assist by Kelsey Parry to make it 2-1.

Rice battled back to tie the match once more on a goal with just two seconds remaining in regulation by Jasmine Isokpunwu to knot the match at 2-2.

At the 101:08 mark, just after the start of the second overtime, Alves took on the Rice defense herself and drilled her sixth goal of the season for the game-winner. The win ties FAU's 2014 mark of seven victories with six matches remaining in the regular season.
"Both teams had their opportunities on the day," Baker said. "After giving up the first goal, we responded quickly and Sammy Rowland struck a great equalizer from the top of the box. We continued to create looks and opportunities - and took the lead with some good build up out of the back. Kelsey Parry was able to create some space wide on the left side and served a great ball for Alex Mastrobuono to finish first time from six yards out. We have only come from behind once in the past four years and the two goals gave the team a tremendous lift heading into halftime."
"Rice really came after us in the second half and we managed to absorb some pressure and shots on goal," Baker said. "Sydney Drinkwater was tremendous dealing with shots and service from range. We were so close to closing out the game in regulation, but similar to Friday vs North Texas, we gave up a late goal - with two seconds left. Heartbreaking to a certain degree, but we couldn't feel sorry for ourselves because there was overtime. I give the team credit, they could have folded and let another game get away, but we talked about a moment of magic and Geo Alves turned the game with a tremendous individual early in the second overtime to seal the game. The six straight losses has been a tough spell for everyone, but we have stayed the course and hope that this result will turn the tide a bit for us. The North Texas and Rice weekend in Conference USA is a tough trip because of the quality of the two teams, getting something positive today means a great deal to our team."

FAU returns home to host Louisiana Tech on Friday, Oct. 9 and Southern Miss on Sunday, Oct. 11 at the FAU Soccer Stadium. For tickets, call 1-866-FAU-OWLS or visit FAUSports.com.