Women’s Soccer Advances Past LA Tech on PK’s

Wednesday, November 6

Denton, Texas

12:30 PM

Florida Atlantic

14-3-2

Louisiana Tech (Quarterfinals)

13-4-3

Louisiana Tech

Florida Atlantic

11/6/2019 5:24:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

DENTON, Texas – Florida Atlantic University women's soccer and Louisiana Tech went to a shootout in the opening quarterfinal round matchup of the C-USA Championship. The Owls prevailed by making all four of their attempts, while the Lady Techsters saw one knocked away by Cassidy Wasdin and their final try go off the crossbar, advancing FAU to the semifinals.

The Turning Point / The Finish:
The Owls (14-3-2) and Lady Techsters (13-4-3) played through a scoreless 90 and two 10-minute overtimes, despite FAU holding a 27-4 shot advantage throughout the run of play (including six combined attempts in the two extra frames).

Each team made good on their first two penalty kicks, with the Owl pair coming courtesy of Sammy Vitols and Pernille Velta. LA Tech's third attempt was saved by Wasdin, while Luisa Daikeler gave FAU the advantage. Each side made their fourth, with FAU keeping the edge, 4-3, on Tiril Haga's successful shot. Then the fifth LA Tech attempt went off the crossbar, sending the Owls out in a frenzied dogpile celebration.

Notables:

A dozen Owls took shots in the match, with Mary O'Hara (five) and Thelma Hermannsdottir (four) leading the way
Elisha Holmes, Velta and Vitols were next with three attempts apiece
O'Hara put four of her five attempts on target, while Vitols had two
Wasdin had one official save in the run of play, plus causing the unsuccessful PK
This marks the third straight C-USA tournament opener that FAU needed extra time to advance, winning over UAB in Boca Raton in 2017 (1-0) and against Middle Tennessee last season in Norfolk (2-1)
The last time FAU went to penalty kicks came almost 12 years ago, to the day. In the Sun Belt Tournament in Mobile, Alabama, on Nov. 7, 2007, the Owls played Denver to a scoreless tie, but the Pioneers advanced 4-1 on PK's

Quotable

"When you go to PK's, it's anybody's (game)," said head coach Patrick Baker. "Just proud of our girls, we've been working hard on PK's. I knew Cass (Wasdin) was capable of at least getting one (save) … and we didn't need to go to our fifth kicker, which was nice. I thought we did some really good things today outside of putting the ball in the back of the net. We've got a lot of things to clean up before the next game, but proud of how we played and how we defended one of the best forwards in our conference. And now we have a wonderful opportunity on Friday, we're 90 minutes from the final."

"I knew (the shootout was) coming," said redshirt freshman goalkeeper Cassidy Wasdin. "I've had experience with PK's in championship games, in club and high school, but it's a different game in college … You just have to be confident and try to read them."

Full Video with Coach Baker:

Full Video with Cassidy Wasdin:

What's Next

The Owls move on to the semifinal round to play No. 4 seed Charlotte (who defeated WKU, 2-1) in the first matchup on Friday. Kickoff will come at 5:30 p.m. Eastern with streaming again on ESPN+.