Women’s Soccer Marches into C-USA Tournament as Regular Season Co-Champions

2018 Air Force Reserve Conference USA Women's Soccer Championship Bracket

BOCA RATON, Fla. – The Florida Atlantic University women's soccer team came into Sunday sporting an 8-1-1 final Conference USA record. With the conclusion of the slate across the league, the Owls moved into a tie for the league's best regular season mark and are officially 2018 C-USA Co-Champions. It is the program's first ever C-USA championship and its second ever, the first in any league since 2005.

Based on C-USA tiebreaker rules, FAU has earned the tournament's No. 2 seed, and will face off against No. 7 Middle Tennessee this upcoming Wednesday, Oct. 31 in the quarterfinal round of the 2018 Air Force Reserve Conference USA Women's Soccer Championship. The Owls (11-7-1, 8-1-1 C-USA) and Blue Raiders (10-6-1, 5-4-1 C-USA) will compete in the opening match of the opening day in Norfolk, Virginia, at 11:30 a.m. The advancing team will move on to the semifinal round, Friday, a 4:30 p.m. kickoff, against the winner of No. 3 seed UAB and No. 6 Southern Miss.

The 2018 C-USA Championship wraps with the title match on Sunday, set for an 11 a.m. start. The tournament champions will earn the league's automatic bid into the 2018 NCAA Women's College Cup. All seven matches will be shown on ESPN+.

FAU and Middle Tennessee will meet for the second time this year. Earlier this season, in the midst of the Owls' eight-match streak without a loss, they notched a 1-0 win over the Blue Raiders at home on Oct. 14. The lone goal came in the 39th minute courtesy of Sammy Vitols on a breakaway, and the FAU defense came away with a clean sheet, one of six in that span.

"We are excited about our first C-USA regular season title, and the players have been tremendous all year long," said Head Coach Patrick Baker. The 29 players on the roster deserve all the credit and attention for this wonderful accomplishment. Six years ago, we were asked to change the complexion of the program and every year has been a positive step in the building process. Each game this fall has been close, and in most situations, we have found a way to be successful. The balance of our team is a real strength and we depend on our depth in every game. Going 8-1-1 in conference play and 9-1-1 over the last 11 games, we have finished as well as anyone in the country. Your first championship at any school is always special and this one is very satisfying. Preseason was very good for us, non-conference was very challenging and it prepared us well for the rigors of C-USA. The fourth segment of the fall is the conference tournament and we enter next week healthy, fit and playing good soccer. I'm proud of our girls and I know they are excited about the opportunities ahead of them."

"The team is ecstatic that our hard work this season has paid off," added redshirt senior goalkeeper and one of the team's captains, Jennifer Ocampo. "Being regular season conference co-champions is a great accomplishment and we are excited and ready to fight for another conference championship this week."

FAU's eight conference wins is the fourth-most in program history, the team's highest in 14 seasons, and the most as a member of either the Sun Belt or C-USA. Only the 2002 (10-1-0), 2003 (9-1-0) and 2005 (9-0-1) squads rank above this team on the all-time ledger, with all three of those campaigns coming as part of the Atlantic Sun. That timeframe is also the last time an Owl squad reached double digits for four consecutive seasons (2003-2006, and now 2015-2018).

This tournament berth is the Owls' fourth in a row as well, and FAU joins just North Texas, Louisiana Tech, Old Dominion and Rice as squads to participate in each of those championships. Here is the entirety of the field and the schedule of matches for the 2018 C-USA Championship:

Quarterfinals

11:30 a.m. – Game 1 – No. 2 FAU vs. No. 7 Middle Tennessee
2 p.m. – Game 2 – No. 3 UAB vs. No. 6 Southern Miss
4:30 p.m. – Game 3 – No. 1 North Texas vs. No. 8 Rice
7 p.m. – Game 4 – No. 4 Louisiana Tech vs. No. 5 Old Dominion

Semifinals

4:30 p.m. – Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2
7 p.m. – Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 4

Final

11 a.m. – Semifinal Winners

Stay tuned for more specifics on the FAU/Middle Tennessee matchup as the match draws closer, including how to watch and follow along.

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