Two teams starting the season in different directions met for their first conference match of the season. North Texas (4-2-1) came into the contest with a five match unbeaten streak while Florida Atlantic (0-4-2) had played only one match since August 30th.
Alexis Miller of North Texas scored the first goal of the match in the 10th minute with her shot into the left side of the net. The shot was the Mean Green’s first shot attempt of the match.
The rest of the first half had the Mean Green and the Owls trading attacks. Nothing came of the attacks though as the score held 1-0 in favor of the Mean Green at the half.
The Offense of UNT produced a total of eight shots after going on a 5-0 shot run in the final 12 minutes of play. The FAU defense led to only allowing one shot on goal for North Texas which was the advantage at the end of one. Florida Atlantic had a total of three shots with one on goal. The Owls attack was very prominent, but they have had no chance of finding the net.
As the sun went down, the lights came on for FAU as they started an attack with two shots on goal in the 55th and the 57th minute, but UNT’s Maddie Ogden added to her save total.
In the 73rd minute Dew Dempsey had the Owls’ fourth shot on goal with her shot at the top right of the net. Later in the 76th minute, Jodi Smith was able to draw a foul which led to a fifth shot on goal. Unfortunately, Florida Atlantic could not find the equalizer.
The dominant attack continued for FAU as in the 82nd and 86th minutes Lisa Fureh had two shots with one on goal, but the Mean Green’s defense stood tall once more.
Florida Atlantic’s stats made it seem that the Owls’ won this match, but the one goal for UNT was all the difference. FAU had 11 shots with 6 on goal with Sofia Voldby leading in shots (3). The Mean Green tied Florida Atlantic’s shots total with 11 but only had one shot on goal. UNT’s Maddie Ogden finished with six saves on the night while Lexi Gonzalez allowed one goal. The match became chippy near the end as two Owls and two Mean Green players finished with yellow cards.
A key to look at for FAU was limiting North Texas’ corner attempts. The Mean Green came into the match ranked #1 in the country averaging 9.4 corner attempts a game. The Owl’s defense held them to only three. Florida Atlantic had one attempt this game.
Florida Atlantic (0-5-2) (0-1) plays Southeast Missouri State for their final non-conference match of the regular season. The match is also the final non-conference match of the season for SE Missouri State as well. The Redhawks just finished off a match against FIU in a final of 3-0. For the Redhawks they are coming to Paradise in search of their first win on the season as they stand at 0-5. The Owls final to the Panthers was a 2-0 loss. The match starts at 6 P.M., on Sunday, September, 15th.
