Entering the Conference USA tournament in Houston, Texas on a three-game winning streak, second-seeded FAU women’s soccer had the chance to keep that momentum going. 

Unfortunately for the Owls, that momentum ended in heartbreak as they lost 2-1 to the third-seeded Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles Tuesday evening. It’s the first time FAU lost in the quarterfinals of the C-USA tournament since 2015.

FAU had the first shot on target in the 11th minute with junior midfielder Emma Grissom taking it, but it was saved by the Eagles’ senior goalkeeper Kendell Mindnich.

Things took a turn for the worst at the Owls’ expense in the 41st minute. As freshman goalkeeper Amit Cohen was about to catch the ball after a kick by the Eagles’ sophomore midfielder Katelyn Williams, sophomore defender Nolubabalo Sishuba came out of nowhere to kick the ball past Cohen’s hands. Even though Cohen tried to recover the ball, it was too late as it crossed the goalline to give Southern Miss the 1-0 lead at halftime.

The Eagles were not finished with Cohen. Not even 36 seconds into the second half, senior defender Caitlin Pierce passed the ball from across the pitch to redshirt senior forward Hailey Pohevitz, who smashed the ball past Cohen into the net to extend the lead to two in the Eagles’ favor.

After 68 minutes of struggling offensively, the Owls got a goal back. It came from a brilliant delivery from junior forward Thelma Hermannsdóttir as she passed it to redshirt freshman forward Mia Sennes, who executed her shot perfectly to give the Owls a lifeline in the game.

Red cards came out for both sides in the 76th minute. It happened when senior forward Miracle Porter got fouled hard by senior forward Macie Pennington. Both players got into an altercation as a result, shoving each other and throwing punches as the referee had to eject them from the game.

FAU’s last chance to equalize came in the final minute with a long shot from redshirt junior midfielder Gi Krstec, but it was saved by Mindnich.

With the season officially over for the Owls, they will now prepare for next season.

Richard Pereira is the Sports Editor for the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected] or tweet him @Rich26Pereira.