FAU women’s soccer (3-5-4, 1-1-2 C-USA) squared off against Middle Tennessee State University (6-5-1, 2-2-0 C-USA) at FAU Soccer Stadium on Friday night. Coming off two tied games, the Owls hoped to secure their second conference USA play win, but couldn’t follow through as the Blue Raiders left with a win. 

Within the first 10 minutes of the match, the Owls’ forceful defense landed junior defender Amanda Martin a yellow card. In response, the Blue Raiders went for three consecutive shot attempts but freshman goalkeeper Amit Cohen saved all of them to keep the Owls from conceding. 

As the first half was nearing an end with eight minutes remaining, FAU set out to quickly score with their four continuous shot attempts. Graduate forward Bri Austin and redshirt junior midfielder Gi Krstec contributed to two of those shots. 

None were successful as junior goalkeeper Hannah Suder denied every opportunity they took. Both teams ended the first half scoreless after taking four shot attempts each. 

Following a foul by FAU to begin the second half, Middle Tennessee was awarded a corner kick that was taken by sophomore forward Eleanor Gough. Freshman midfielder Kirstine Lykke got a piece of it with a header and it rebounded off of Cohen. 

At the 56th minute, senior midfielder Sam Debien found the opening in a crowded box to score as she knocked the ball into the back of the net. 

The Owls didn’t give up playing aggressively as they went on to make a total of 12 shot attempts after the Blue Raiders’ game-winning goal. Nonetheless, they still couldn’t squeeze a goal past Suder. 

The Owls continue conference play as they travel to El Paso, Texas to play against the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) on Oct. 9 at 9 p.m. The game will be broadcast on C-USA TV. 

Gabriella Brito is a staff writer for the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected] or tweet her @gaby1brito