Upcoming Event: No. 22 Men's Soccer versus UAB on October 24, 2025 at 7 p.m.
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No. 22 Men's Soccer
vs. UAB
Florida Atlantic University Athletics
2021 Spring Men’s Soccer Recap: Behind a Winning Program
5/12/2021 10:13:00 AM | No. 22 Men's Soccer
BOCA RATON, Fla. – "You guys are a winning program," said head coach Joey Worthen to his team after the Owls defeated UAB 2-1 in the season finale. "A couple years ago that wasn't the case, but you guys have turned this around. That's full credit to you guys, that's unbelievable. The last time we had a winning season was 2007. You guys were 3-4 years old then."
With FAU's win over the Blazers on a hot day on April 17, the Owls clinched a winning season for the first time since 2007. The Owls finished the spring slate 6-4-2 (3-4-0 in Conference USA), while breaking a school record for least amount of goals conceded (11) and lowest goals against average (0.92). Five student-athletes were rewarded with C-USA All-Conference honors, Ivan Mykhailenko won the Co-Golden Boot Award for scoring the most goals in league play and the team has completely turned around from its back-to-back two win seasons in 2017 and 2018.
The Owls got the season off to a great start, ending the non-conference slate with an undefeated 3-0-2 record. The team got the spring season started with back-to-back 1-0 wins over Atlantic Sun Conference foes North Florida and Stetson.
In the UNF win, the team got the win despite only having 13 available players and it being colder than usual in South Florida on a chilly sub-50 degree night. Alonso Coello Camarero scored the game's lone goal off a free kick in the 31st minute and that was all the Owls needed to start the season off with a 1-0 record.
The team continued that momentum with another 1-0 win, this time on a warmer night against Stetson. Mykhailenko scored his first of six goals off a penalty kick at the 56th minute, and that was all the Owls needed to prevail with the win.
Sitting at 2-0-1 after the Owls' first three home matches, the team was ready to hit the road for its first away contest of the season at Jacksonville. After the score was knotted up at nil-nil in the first half, the Owls poured on four unanswered goals in the second half, which included an own goal and strikes from Arturo Ernand, Célestin Theodore and Coello Camarero.
Following the big road shutout, Neil Strauber was named C-USA Defensive Player of the Week. The Tel Aviv, Israel product captured three big saves on the afternoon, while not allowing a single shot to meet the back of the net to earn a 1.000 save percentage.
To close out the non-conference schedule, the Owls hit the road to Florida Gulf Coast. The Owls trailed at the 68th minute after giving up a FGCU goal, but the team showed perseverance the entire match. The lights at the stadium went out at the 88th minute for over 30 minutes, but the Owls were determined to play out the final two minutes of the contest. With under a minute ticking on the clock, Coello Camarero lined up for a free kick to connect with Blake Dean who headed the ball into the back of the net. With 14 seconds on the clock, the Owls had tied up the game to ultimately force a draw on the road against the Eagles.
"Another area we addressed was getting results on the road," said Worthen. "I think we saw that in non-conference play. For us to be able to go to Jacksonville, a team in the NCAA Tournament, and put on a really dominant performance and get a shutout and win, 4-nil. To then go to Gulf Coast and give up a kind of fluke goal, but then we saw our fighting spirit score with 14 seconds left to get a draw and a result on the road."
With a 3-0-2 record, the Owls got off to the best defensive start from the program in the first five matches since 1991. They were prepped to face a tough conference lineup in one of the toughest leagues in the country.
"I'm really happy for the guys," said Worthen. "Four years ago when we started this, I had a vision of what I thought we could do. After the first couple of years, it makes you second guess it when you are not getting the results, but we could see the incremental progress with the culture, players coming in and their buy-in in what we are doing."
FAU began the C-USA schedule 0-2, but would quickly bounce back after tallying back-to-back league wins over Old Dominion and South Carolina. The Owls hit the road to Norfolk, Virginia and picked up a huge three points after a 1-0 win over the Monarchs. Jean Paul Rafols subbed into the game at the 67th minute and needed just a few seconds to find the back of the net off a header.
Following the shutout win, the Owls earned national recognition as Strauber was tabbed United Soccer Coaches Player of the Week. In that game, the keeper picked up his fourth clean sheet of the season, the fourth most in program history, while matching a season-high of six saves.
FAU would follow up the road win with another big victory against South Carolina. Mykhailenko scored the Owls' two goals in the first half, and although the Gamecocks halved the score in the second frame, the Owls hung tough to preserve the win. It was no surprise that Mykhailenko earned his first of two C-USA Offensive Player of the Week titles after scoring two goals against South Carolina.
The Owls then took on a tough road test in back-to-back away contests against ranked opponents. FAU fell to No. 13 Marshall and No. 14 Charlotte after giving up just one goal in the first half of both matches. The Owls hung tough the rest of the way, but could not come up with the equalizer in either match.
FAU would close out the season on the right foot by defeating UAB 2-1 in the final match to achieve a winning record. The Owls' backline held it down by limiting the Blazers to just two shots the whole match with one of those being a penalty kick. Mykhailenko delivered two goals once again in the match to earn his second C-USA Offensive Player of the Week title.
As mentioned before, the Owls held opponents to just 11 goals, the team's best defensive showing in program history.
"We looked at the end of last year with what we could do to improve," said Worthen. "We felt like we had a really good year in 2019, but we really needed to eliminate the amount of goals we were giving up. The top teams in the conference were giving up less than a goal a game. We stressed that and made an emphasis in training in a few areas we felt like we could improve on to eliminate some of those goals we were giving up."
The Owls were more than well represented on the All-Conference Team with five different selections. Mykhailenko was named to the First Team along with being named the C-USA Co-Golden Boot Award after tallying five goals in conference play.
"Ivan's ceiling is really high, and man, he scored some really big goals for us," said Worthen. "I think he still has a lot of room to improve and we talked to him about that. I expect him to be a guy who is scoring in bunches and to be one of the top goal scorers in the country."
Defenders Graeme Pratt and Daniel Skistad were called to the Second Team and Third Team, respectively. Coello Camarero was also a Second Team choice, and has been an All-Conference selection all three years. Vasilis Spinos was huge to the Owls' backline performance and was named to the C-USA Freshman Team.
FAU also showed up in the classroom with three C-USA Academic Team selections. Jose Alastuey, Mykhailenko and Skistad all earned a spot on the 10-person team, marking the most FAU selections to an all-conference academic team
A big reason for the Owls' success was Strauber's efforts in goal. His consistent efforts in his first year along with his leadership helped lead the team throughout the whole season.
"I expect [Neil] to even grow more as we go into next year," said Worthen. "To be able to take control over the team, especially in tight moments when we go into conference games, we need some of that leadership. I think he is a guy who can certainly help bring it."
The Owls expect to return all but one starter going into the 2021 fall season. The team will be one of the most senior-led in the conference, which will fare well for them competing in such a competitive league. Yes, the improvement the program has made are significant, but the sky is the limit for this team.
"The guys are hungry," said Worthen. "[They] are excited, so we are also really excited for the future, the future of this program and the trajectory that we are on and hope to continue to go along the way."
With FAU's win over the Blazers on a hot day on April 17, the Owls clinched a winning season for the first time since 2007. The Owls finished the spring slate 6-4-2 (3-4-0 in Conference USA), while breaking a school record for least amount of goals conceded (11) and lowest goals against average (0.92). Five student-athletes were rewarded with C-USA All-Conference honors, Ivan Mykhailenko won the Co-Golden Boot Award for scoring the most goals in league play and the team has completely turned around from its back-to-back two win seasons in 2017 and 2018.
The Owls got the season off to a great start, ending the non-conference slate with an undefeated 3-0-2 record. The team got the spring season started with back-to-back 1-0 wins over Atlantic Sun Conference foes North Florida and Stetson.
In the UNF win, the team got the win despite only having 13 available players and it being colder than usual in South Florida on a chilly sub-50 degree night. Alonso Coello Camarero scored the game's lone goal off a free kick in the 31st minute and that was all the Owls needed to start the season off with a 1-0 record.
The team continued that momentum with another 1-0 win, this time on a warmer night against Stetson. Mykhailenko scored his first of six goals off a penalty kick at the 56th minute, and that was all the Owls needed to prevail with the win.
Sitting at 2-0-1 after the Owls' first three home matches, the team was ready to hit the road for its first away contest of the season at Jacksonville. After the score was knotted up at nil-nil in the first half, the Owls poured on four unanswered goals in the second half, which included an own goal and strikes from Arturo Ernand, Célestin Theodore and Coello Camarero.
Following the big road shutout, Neil Strauber was named C-USA Defensive Player of the Week. The Tel Aviv, Israel product captured three big saves on the afternoon, while not allowing a single shot to meet the back of the net to earn a 1.000 save percentage.
To close out the non-conference schedule, the Owls hit the road to Florida Gulf Coast. The Owls trailed at the 68th minute after giving up a FGCU goal, but the team showed perseverance the entire match. The lights at the stadium went out at the 88th minute for over 30 minutes, but the Owls were determined to play out the final two minutes of the contest. With under a minute ticking on the clock, Coello Camarero lined up for a free kick to connect with Blake Dean who headed the ball into the back of the net. With 14 seconds on the clock, the Owls had tied up the game to ultimately force a draw on the road against the Eagles.
"Another area we addressed was getting results on the road," said Worthen. "I think we saw that in non-conference play. For us to be able to go to Jacksonville, a team in the NCAA Tournament, and put on a really dominant performance and get a shutout and win, 4-nil. To then go to Gulf Coast and give up a kind of fluke goal, but then we saw our fighting spirit score with 14 seconds left to get a draw and a result on the road."
With a 3-0-2 record, the Owls got off to the best defensive start from the program in the first five matches since 1991. They were prepped to face a tough conference lineup in one of the toughest leagues in the country.
"I'm really happy for the guys," said Worthen. "Four years ago when we started this, I had a vision of what I thought we could do. After the first couple of years, it makes you second guess it when you are not getting the results, but we could see the incremental progress with the culture, players coming in and their buy-in in what we are doing."
FAU began the C-USA schedule 0-2, but would quickly bounce back after tallying back-to-back league wins over Old Dominion and South Carolina. The Owls hit the road to Norfolk, Virginia and picked up a huge three points after a 1-0 win over the Monarchs. Jean Paul Rafols subbed into the game at the 67th minute and needed just a few seconds to find the back of the net off a header.
Following the shutout win, the Owls earned national recognition as Strauber was tabbed United Soccer Coaches Player of the Week. In that game, the keeper picked up his fourth clean sheet of the season, the fourth most in program history, while matching a season-high of six saves.
FAU would follow up the road win with another big victory against South Carolina. Mykhailenko scored the Owls' two goals in the first half, and although the Gamecocks halved the score in the second frame, the Owls hung tough to preserve the win. It was no surprise that Mykhailenko earned his first of two C-USA Offensive Player of the Week titles after scoring two goals against South Carolina.
The Owls then took on a tough road test in back-to-back away contests against ranked opponents. FAU fell to No. 13 Marshall and No. 14 Charlotte after giving up just one goal in the first half of both matches. The Owls hung tough the rest of the way, but could not come up with the equalizer in either match.
FAU would close out the season on the right foot by defeating UAB 2-1 in the final match to achieve a winning record. The Owls' backline held it down by limiting the Blazers to just two shots the whole match with one of those being a penalty kick. Mykhailenko delivered two goals once again in the match to earn his second C-USA Offensive Player of the Week title.
As mentioned before, the Owls held opponents to just 11 goals, the team's best defensive showing in program history.
"We looked at the end of last year with what we could do to improve," said Worthen. "We felt like we had a really good year in 2019, but we really needed to eliminate the amount of goals we were giving up. The top teams in the conference were giving up less than a goal a game. We stressed that and made an emphasis in training in a few areas we felt like we could improve on to eliminate some of those goals we were giving up."
The Owls were more than well represented on the All-Conference Team with five different selections. Mykhailenko was named to the First Team along with being named the C-USA Co-Golden Boot Award after tallying five goals in conference play.
"Ivan's ceiling is really high, and man, he scored some really big goals for us," said Worthen. "I think he still has a lot of room to improve and we talked to him about that. I expect him to be a guy who is scoring in bunches and to be one of the top goal scorers in the country."
Defenders Graeme Pratt and Daniel Skistad were called to the Second Team and Third Team, respectively. Coello Camarero was also a Second Team choice, and has been an All-Conference selection all three years. Vasilis Spinos was huge to the Owls' backline performance and was named to the C-USA Freshman Team.
FAU also showed up in the classroom with three C-USA Academic Team selections. Jose Alastuey, Mykhailenko and Skistad all earned a spot on the 10-person team, marking the most FAU selections to an all-conference academic team
A big reason for the Owls' success was Strauber's efforts in goal. His consistent efforts in his first year along with his leadership helped lead the team throughout the whole season.
"I expect [Neil] to even grow more as we go into next year," said Worthen. "To be able to take control over the team, especially in tight moments when we go into conference games, we need some of that leadership. I think he is a guy who can certainly help bring it."
The Owls expect to return all but one starter going into the 2021 fall season. The team will be one of the most senior-led in the conference, which will fare well for them competing in such a competitive league. Yes, the improvement the program has made are significant, but the sky is the limit for this team.
"The guys are hungry," said Worthen. "[They] are excited, so we are also really excited for the future, the future of this program and the trajectory that we are on and hope to continue to go along the way."
Players Mentioned
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