Semifinals Set: Soccer Squares Off Against No. 2-Seed Marshall

BOCA RATON, Fla. – The Florida Atlantic University men's soccer team (8-6-3, 2-4-2 in Conference USA) turned a lot of heads on Wednesday night at the 2021 C-USA Men's Soccer Championship Opening Round, as the No. 6-seed Owls knocked off the No. 3-seeded tournament host Charlotte (10-5-1, 5-3 in C-USA) in penalty kicks (5-3). Now the Owls are set for the semifinals, as the team will rematch with Marshall (11-2-3, 5-1-2 in C-USA) tomorrow night. The Owls and Thundering Herd will kickoff at 7 p.m. at Transamerica Field.

About the Owls

FAU is coming off its first C-USA Tournament win on Wednesday after outlasting Charlotte in penalty kicks, 5-3 in the 0-0 draw
Wednesday's win also marks the first postseason victory for FAU since 2007
The Owls are in their second straight conference tournament for the first time since 2007 and 2008 (conference didn't hold one in the spring)
The Owls are an eight-win team for the first time since 2005 and have achieved back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 2003 and 2004
Filip Jauk leads the Owls with eight goals for 16 points, which is tied for the third most in C-USA
Luis Sailer Fidalgo has a team's best six assists
Neil Strauber has started in 17 matches with a 1.59 goals against average, 73 saves (most in C-USA) and five shutouts
Davide Romeo and Jauk were named to the Top Drawer Midseason Top 100 Freshman List. Romeo came in at No. 44 and Jauk is No. 56
The Owls average 1.53 goals per game

All-Conference Recognition

Five Owls were honored by C-USA to the All-Conference Team
Coello Camarero and Jauk were tabbed to the All-C-USA Second Team
Tom Abrahamsson and Mykhailenko were selected to the All-C-USA Third Team
Jauk and Romeo earned spots on the All-Freshman Team
Full release here

About the Herd

Marshall, the defending College Cup Champions, was projected to win the league. The program is coming off the 2019 and 2020 C-USA championship
Pedro Dolabella leads the team and league with 10 goals and six assists for 26 points, winning C-USA Player of the Year, Offensive MVP and Co-Midfielder of the Year
Vinicius Fernandes has logged a team- high eight assists and was tabbed to the C-USA Second Team
Oliver Semmle has started in 15 games to log a 0.95 goals against average, 45 saves and eight cleansheets to be named to the C-USA Second Team
Defender Nathan Dossantos was selected as Defensive Player of the Year
Vitor Dias was named Co-Midfielder of the Year with Dolabella
Milo Yosef was tabbed to the C-USA First Team and Max Schneider made the Second Team

Match History

FAU and Marshall are evenly matched in the all-time series with the Herd holding a slight edge, 6-5-1
The Herd have won the last two matches over the Owls with last month's match resulting in a 3-0 loss for FAU
FAU earned a huge upset win over the Herd in 2019, as Mykhailenko's penalty kick at the 97th minute sealed the deal to knock off Marshall, who was No. 15 at the time

Last Time on the Pitch

The Owls won their first postseason game since 2007 (first since belonging to C-USA) vs. tournament-host Charlotte, 0-0 (5-3 in penalty kicks)
Strauber delivered three huge saves during the game
Mykhailenko, Jauk, Abrahamsson, Jose Alastuey and Coello Camarero all buried their PK attempts. Strauber logged a huge stop on Charlotte's second attempt, putting on a fantastic performance between the pipes

Up Next

With a win, the Owls will earn a spot in the C-USA Championship game. The match is set for Sunday, Nov. 14 at 1 p.m.

Owls on Social Media

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