FAU Men’s Soccer: Owls escape with a draw, tie St. Thomas 1-1
Blake Dean scored the goal to secure FAU the draw against St. Thomas.
Blake Dean (pictured white, #22) scored the game-tying goal for FAU. Photo courtesy of FAU Athletics.
February 13, 2021
FAU men’s soccer (2-0-1) received its first draw on Saturday night at FAU Soccer Stadium, tying the St. Thomas Bobcats (0-0-1) 1-1.
Early fouls caused substitutions to occur in the first half, including one in the first minute.
The Bobcats scored first, with sophomore forward Mark Oghogho beating his defender and striking it into the net in the 19th minute. It was the first goal FAU conceded after three games this season.
FAU tried to respond with a shot from senior forward Ivan Mykhailenko in the 32nd minute, but it was saved by St. Thomas’s junior goalkeeper Franco Acerbi.
The Owls equalized in the 71st minute when freshman defender Fabrizio Cubeddu crossed the ball to junior midfielder Blake Dean, who scored the goal.
St. Thomas tried to retake the lead at the end of the second half, but junior goalkeeper Neil Strauber saved back-to-back shots to force overtime.
FAU’s last shot in the game came in the 107th minute when Mykhailenko took a header to try taking the lead, but it went out wide.
Despite conceding his first goal of the season, Strauber ended it with saving the ball six times for the Owls.
The Owls will play their first road game of the season on Feb. 19 at 3 p.m. against Jacksonville University.
Richard Pereira is the Sports Editor for the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected] or tweet him @Rich26Pereira.
