FAU men’s soccer (8-5-2, 2-3-2 C-USA) lost its last home game of the season Saturday afternoon, suffering a 4-0 shutout to the nationally-ranked Florida International University Panthers (11-2-2, 6-0-1 C-USA).

The Panthers showcased their offensive firepower in the first half with three goals. The first goal occurred 10 minutes in as junior defender Philip Hildebrandt passed the ball to junior forward Stephen Afrifa, who kicked it past FAU’s senior goalkeeper Neil Strauber to open the scoring onslaught.

FIU got its second in the 32nd minute courtesy of junior forward Rasmus Tobinski finding freshman forward Bernardo Dos Santos Monteiro to put the ball in the net.

With 10 seconds left, Tobinski once again got the ball to graduate midfielder Matias Berraza to have the lead be 3-0 entering halftime.

FAU’s senior forward Blake Dean nearly scored in the 52nd minute with a great shot. Unfortunately for him, it went off the crossbar to keep the Owls scoreless.

Things got worse for FAU in the 57th minute as they had 10 players on the pitch due to sophomore defender Vasilis Spinos committing a bad foul inside the Owls’ penalty box, therefore getting him a red card that ejected him from the game.

Despite that, Strauber had a solid moment for FAU. He made an excellent penalty save to get something noteworthy out of what was a rough day for the team.

FIU scored its last goal in the 62nd minute thanks to senior midfielder Talla Faye getting the ball to Hildebrandt, making the score 4-0 once the game ended.

Despite a tough defeat, the Owls’ hopes of qualifying for their second Conference USA Tournament are still in reach as they head to Lexington, Ky. to face the University of Kentucky on Friday, Nov. 5 at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.

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