Women’s Soccer Moves to 2-0 in C-USA Play with Road Win over UAB

Sunday, September 29

Birmingham, Ala.

2:00 PM

Florida Atlantic

-820, 200 CUSA

UAB

-323, 010 CUSA

Florida Atlantic

UAB

Photo by: JC Ridley/Owlpix.com

Women’s Soccer Moves to 2-0 in C-USA Play with Road Win over UAB

9/29/2019 4:50:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Florida Atlantic University women's soccer, behind a goal in the 79th minute by Madison Davenport, topped UAB on Sunday afternoon, 2-1, for a Conference USA road victory. The win runs the Owls' current streak to six in a row, and at 8-2, the team is off to its best start through 10 matches in program history.

The Turning Point:
The Owls (8-2-0, 2-0-0 C-USA) and Blazers (2-3-3, 0-1-0 C-USA) each hit the back of the net in the first half. FAU made good on a Pernille Velta tally in the 27th; UAB knotted it up just over seven minutes later. FAU came out firing after the break, hitting both the post and crossbar with two separate shots, and having some solid attempts saved by the UAB keeper. But the Owls stayed on the offensive.

The Finish:
To that end, in the 79th, Mary O'Hara streaked into the box and pushed the ball forward off a UAB defender. Davenport was on the spot and beat the keeper for the go-ahead goal. The Owls played keep-away and held possession for the remainder of the match to seal the win.

Notables:

For the sophomore Davenport, it was the first goal of her FAU career
Velta notched her fourth score this year, matching a season high, and 13th in four seasons
On Davenport's goal, assists were credited to O'Hara and Tiril Haga
The Owls outshot the Blazers 19-7, with Gi Krstec nearly equaling the opposition, with six herself
Of her six, three were on goal, while she was also just wide on an attempt early in the second half, hitting the post
UAB's goal snapped a scoreless stretch of just over 350 minutes for the FAU defense
On an unseasonably hot afternoon in Birmingham that necessitated mandatory water breaks, only the goalkeeper Cassidy Wasdin and two defenders, Luisa Daikeler and Alex Maxson, were on for the full time
The previous best start to a year was a 7-2-1 mark in 1992

Quotable

"A lot of ups and downs in the game to be fair," said head coach Patrick Baker. "Just a huge road win, especially after traveling all the way to Oklahoma on Thursday, not playing, and traveling all the way back here. Not (an) ideal travel situation, but a really important three points and really important road win to get to 2-0 in the conference."

"Obviously we won, so it was a good game, but I think that we started off a little flat," said senior forward Velta. "We've been traveling for four days … and haven't been able to play or train that much, but we got the 'W,' so we're happy."

Full Video with Coach Baker:

Full Video with Velta:

What's Next

Next weekend, FAU is set for two more road matches, both in league play. Friday night's matchup will be in Ruston, Louisiana against Louisiana Tech; on Sunday afternoon, FAU will take on Southern Miss in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.