FAU men’s soccer (5-1-1, 1-0-1 C-USA) played their first home game of conference play at FAU Soccer Stadium Saturday night, as they cruised to a 3-0 victory against Old Dominion (2-4-1, 0-1-1 C-USA).

It only took less than five minutes for the Owls to get on the scoreboard. After a deflected cross had the ball wide open inside the Monarchs’ penalty box, junior midfielder Jose Alastuey capitalized on the opportunity to give FAU the lead. With the goal, Alastuey became the third Owl to score three goals this season.

The first half featured the Owls and Monarchs having a back-and-forth battle for possession of the ball. As FAU continued pushing the ball in search of their second goal, Old Dominion maintained caution on the defensive end of the pitch in hopes to shift the momentum back in its favor.

FAU had three shots on target in the last five minutes of the half. Freshman midfielders Zach Hassell and Leo Keller made the effort to keep FAU’s active, but Old Dominion’s goalkeeper Djibril Doumbia kept their shots from going in.

The Owls added on to their lead in the 62nd minute. Sophomore defender Luis Sailer Fidalgo crossed the ball into the box for freshman forward Filip Jauk to tap the ball into the net, scoring his fourth goal of the season.

With FAU’s total control of the game starting to be inevitable, Old Dominion became desperate and lost its composure defensively. As a result, the Owls got their third and last goal in the 72nd minute thanks to graduate defender Daniel Skistad passing the ball inside the box for freshman midfielder Davide Romeo to kick it in, notching his second goal this season.

Despite a quiet night for senior goalkeeper Neil Strauber, he earned his second clean sheet of the season after FAU kept the Monarchs scoreless the entire game. 

The Owls continue at home on Tuesday, Sept. 28 to face non-conference opponent Jacksonville University at 6 p.m. The game will be broadcast on C-USA TV.

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