History Made! Men’s Soccer Qualifies for Conference USA Tournament with Overtime Victory over ODU

Friday, November 8

Boca Raton, Fla.

7 PM

Florida Atlantic

7-7-1, 3-4-0

Old Dominion

3-11-1, 1-5-1

Old Dominion

Florida Atlantic

History Made! Men’s Soccer Qualifies for Conference USA Tournament with Overtime Victory over ODU

11/8/2019 11:03:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

BOCA RATON, Fla. – Straight out of a scene from a movie, the Florida Atlantic University men's soccer team (7-7-1, 3-4-0) pulled out a comeback victory over Old Dominion (3-11-1, 1-5-1) Friday night in overtime, 4-3. With Jose Alastuey's goal at the 97th minute, the Owls beat ODU for the first time ever, while also securing a spot in the Conference USA Tournament for the first time in program history since joining the conference in 2013. The victory was the icing on the cake to a picture perfect Senior Night.

How It Was Won

The Monarchs did not hold back in the beginning of the match, striking in the second minute to take an early 1-0 lead. As the Owls were still being held to zero shots, ODU capitalized once again in the 13th minute off a free kick to extend their lead, 2-0. At the 39th minute, the Owls brought a lot of noise in the box, getting three shots blocked until Alex Alexis came up with a golden look that slid past the ODU keeper to put the Owls within one before the half. Although the Owls started out slow, they would go into the half outshooting ODU, 9-5.

FAU had all of the momentum going into the second half and it showed, as Andres Macias delivered the equalizer at the 52nd minute to knot things up, 2-2. The Owls would get three shots off, one saved by the ODU keeper, until the 80th minute when ODU would retake the lead off a goal by the Monarchs' Hans Kroschwitz. Just as the game looked to swing in the Monarch's favor, Joe O'Sullivan delivered his first goal of the season off an assist by Ernand with 2:10 remaining in the regulation to keep the Owls' hopes alive.

As the drama continued to unfold, the Owls fouled in the box at the 95th minute to set the Monarchs up for a penalty kick try. As rain started to fall in Boca Raton, ODU's Deniz Dogan squared up to the box for the penalty kick try, but it went right off the crossbar to keep the game going. With the period resuming, the steady rain turned into a downpour. At the 97th minute, it looked as though Ernand lined up for an indirect free kick, but Alastuey slid in to bank the golden goal and come up with a 4-3 overtime win.

Coach Worthen's Take

Of Note

The Owls qualified for their first ever C-USA Tournament since joining the conference in 2013. The last time FAU made their respective conference tournament was in 2008 when they were members of the Mid-American Conference
FAU beat ODU for the first time in program history, as the previous seven matchups had fallen in the Monarch's favor
Four different Owls found the end of each goal, with three players recording their firsts of the season
Senior Alexis was one of three, as he was able to cut ODU's lead in half going into halftime with his goal. With seven assists on the year, Alexis stands at second on the team in points scored with nine
Macias' equalizer at the 52nd minute marked the first goal of his career. The sophomore now has four points on the season
Striker O'Sullivan has been aggressive all year long and it paid off, as his goal in the 88th minute was his first of his career, as well
Alastuey captured the first game-winning goal of his young career
Hagay Jalon recorded three saves in his fourth win of the season
The Owls outshot the Monarchs 16-8 in the game
FAU's four goals became the most scored by the team against a Division I opponent since 2013 when the team scored five goals on Stetson
The Owls' three conference wins this season marks the most for the program since 2007 before they were members of C-USA
FAU's seven regular season wins is more than the past two seasons combined

Up Next

The Owls will now prepare for the C-USA Men's Soccer Championships taking place from Nov. 13-17 in Norfolk, Virginia. The bracket and opponents will be released tomorrow at 10 a.m. Eastern Time.

Owls on Social Media

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