After a rainy day brought by Hurricane Helene, Mother Nature let soccer be played. Florida Atlantic allowed only two shots on goal as they held on for the draw against USF.
The Owls had two shots in the first ten minutes, but neither shot was able to find the goal. For the rest of the half, it was a struggle for the Owls to get any ground made as the Bulls defense was able to stop any run, and the windy conditions made it difficult to push the ball down the pitch as going into the half it was even 0-0.
The first half of play saw a lot of action from the Bulls as USF had five shots, but only one shot was on goal. South Florida also had four corner attempts. Florida Atlantic was only able to get two shots off with only one on goal. The Owls only had one corner attempt as well.
In the 53rd minute USF’s Sarah Brunner earned a yellow card as she made contact with goalkeeper Lexi Gonzalez
As play continued on, FAU’s Daniella Diaz received a yellow card for herself. Right after in the 77th minute, the Owls had an opportunity to bury a goal, but Drew Dempsey’s shot was saved by Leire Herraez Gallach.
The final ten minutes saw USF vying for the win, but the Florida Atlantic defense stood tall as the Bulls were unsuccessful in finding victory. The match ended 0-0.
The draw is notable for FAU as the Bulls were projected to finish second in the AAC this preseason. In total, the Owls allowed seven shots with only two on goal. In the second half, FAU allowed only two shots. The Owls had three shots with Noa Olivia Ganther and Drew Dempsey both having a shot on goal for the Owls team total of two. Gonzalez finished the match with two saves as the Owls earned their third clean sheet of the season.
FAU (2-5-3) (1-1-1) travels to UAB (4-3-2) (1-1-1) to continue conference play. For the Blazers, they just finished a match against conference rival Rice, falling 2-1. The Blazers were predicted to finish the conference in ninth place, but they have not let the polls decide their fate as they have a top fifteen draw against Memphis and a 2-1 victory against UTSA. The match between the Owls and UAB takes place on Sunday, Sept. 29th, at 2:00 P.M EDT.