FAU men’s soccer (6-4-2, 1-2-2 C-USA) hosted the Charlotte 49ers (8-4, 3-2 C-USA) in FAU Soccer Stadium on Saturday night. Unfortunately, Charlotte manhandled them with five goals scored.

Similar to how Marshall performed against FAU last week, Charlotte scored multiple goals in the first half. The first goal came from a set piece in the 23rd minute as redshirt senior midfielder Joe Brito delivered an excellent free kick to redshirt senior defender Delasi Batse, who headed the ball into the net.

The 49ers got their second goal in the 26th minute as senior forward Alex Willis dribbled past his defender to convert the well-placed strike.

Senior forward Preston Popp made a similar goal at the 44-minute mark as FAU entered halftime with tons of frustration built due to its defensive mishaps.

Charlotte enjoyed the fruits of Popp’s performance, as he scored his second goal of the game and sixth this season in the 72nd minute.

Despite seeing the team down 4-0, a majority of the 325 fans in attendance stayed in the bleachers to continue supporting the team all the way to the end.

Thanks to their insistence, the Owls rewarded them with a consolation goal in the 87th minute as junior midfielder Jose Alastuey crossed the ball into the box for freshman forward Filip Jauk to score the header for his seventh of the season.

That would be FAU’s sole best moment of the game because with one second left, Charlotte got their fifth and final goal courtesy of redshirt junior midfielder Jaxson Watermann. Junior forward Axel Sigurdarson provided the assist.

With three conference games remaining, the Owls find themselves with the same overall record they finished with last year and will have to regroup in search for their second berth of the Conference USA Tournament.

FAU will head out on the road with its next destination being Birmingham, Ala., as the team takes on the UAB Blazers on Saturday, Oct. 23 at 8 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.