Owls Pour on the Offense in 5-2 Win over Houston Baptist

Sunday, August 29

Houston, Texas

9 PM

Florida Atlantic

2-0-0, 0-0-0

Houston Baptist

1-1-0, 0-0-0

Fla. Atlantic

Houston Baptist

8/29/2021 11:47:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

BOCA RATON, Fla. – The Florida Atlantic University men's soccer team (2-0) showed what the team is capable of on the offensive side of the ball, as the team took down Houston Baptist (1-1) by a large score of 5-2. FAU's five goals scored Sunday night against the HBU Tournament host is the most scored by the Owls versus a Division I opponent since the 2013 season. Ivan Mykhailenko led the Owls with two goals, while Luis Sailer Fidalgo put up two assists.

How It Was Decided

First Half
The first half was an offensive clinic for both sides of the field. At the sixth minute, FAU capitalized on an HBU mistake, as an Owl was fouled in the box. This brought up Mykhailenko to try for the penalty kick. The C-USA Co-Golden Boot winner delivered on the try to elevate the Owls to an early 1-0 lead. Just one minute later, the Huskies captured the equalizer. The Owls needed three minutes to get back on top though, as Blake Dean found the back of the net off an assist from Sailer Fidalgo at the 10th minute.

At the 25th minute, defender Vasilis Spinos got a good ball from Tom Abrahamsson to strike for his first career goal. The Owls' 3-1 lead was soon cut to a one goal deficit, as HBU's Bryant Farkalun provided HBU with a goal at the 32nd minute of the match. Following a free kick, Alonso Coello Camarero got a hold of the ball to find Davide Romeo at the left of the field, who put in a dagger in the back of the net. FAU outshot the Huskies, 9-3 in the first half (5-3 on target).

Second Half
The biggest storyline in the second half took place in the 71st minute of the match. An Owl fouled an HBU player in the box to set up the Huskies for a PK. The Husky tried to confuse Neil Strauber on where he would aim the ball, but that did not fool Strauber, as he delivered a huge save in the right of the net to keep the score at 4-2. At the 77th minute, Mykhailenko punched in his second goal of the match in the low left corner of the net after receiving the ball from Sailer Fidalgo, who had his second assist of the night. Mykhailenko's goal put the sprinkles on the cake in the Owls' 5-2 victory against tournament host, HBU.

Of Note

Mykhailenko captured his first two goals of the season. He is now tied for 10th all-time in program history for career goals with 15 while tallying his fourth multi-goal match of his career
Dean tallied his first goal of the season, fourth of his career
Spinos and Romeo each registered their first career goals
Sailer Fidalgo registered two assists on the night, both firsts for his career. He now leads the team in that category
Abrahamsson and Coello Camarero also came in big with assists
Strauber came up with four saves on the night, including the big one on HBU's PK try, which shifted the momentum to FAU's favor
Filip Jauk, Leo Keller, Mykhailenko and Pontus Steffensen each had two shots
FAU had 14 shots (eight on target) as opposed to HBU's 10 (six on goal)
Tim Bernhardsson, Coello Camarero, Sailer Fidalgo and Strauber played all 90 minutes
The Owls' five goals is the most scored by the team against a Division I opponent since 2013. FAU defeated Keiser (NAIA) in the 2019 season
Nineteen Owls saw time on the pitch tonight. Keller who played 61 minutes and tallied two shots, one on goal, made his debut off the bench. Micael Lervik also made his first appearance on the pitch as an Owl
The Owls begin the season 2-0 for the second consecutive season

Coach Worthen's Take

On the win:
"I'm really, really pleased with the performance tonight," said head coach Joey Worthen. "We played really well. I'm disappointed to give up two goals in the way that we did, but that was some of the best soccer I've seen since I've been here. We controlled the game, scored fantastic goals and executed the gameplan. The guys were mature. It was a really mature win and they just really controlled the game and were really disciplined, and for us to come back from the weekend 2-0 and score six goals [in two matches], we are really happy with that. That was the plan all along. We will get back tomorrow and start to look forward for Keiser."

On individual performances:
"I'm also really pleased with Neil. He did really well in goal and came up big on the penalty. A lot of individuals just had really, really good games and we got a lot of minutes in a lot of the guys. Some guys got their first minutes for FAU on the weekend and also had some goals. Overall, I'm really pleased and it's certainly a performance we are going to look to build off of."

Up Next

The Owls open up the 2021 home season at FAU Soccer Stadium against Keiser on Friday at 5 p.m. Admission is free to Friday's match and all other home contests played at FAU Soccer Stadium throughout the season. Live stats can be followed HERE and the stream can be watched HERE.

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