FAU men’s soccer (8-6-2, 2-4-2 C-USA) played its last regular season game on the road in Lexington, Ky. as the team lost 3-0 against the University of Kentucky (11-1-4, 3-1-4 C-USA). 

Despite the defeat, thanks to a 3-2 loss from the University of South Carolina to Old Dominion University, the Owls have qualified for its second Conference USA Tournament in program history.

Kentucky began its scoring in the ninth minute with a corner kick as senior defender Mason Visconti floated the ball into the box for junior defender Luis Grassow to head it in for the goal.

The Wildcats got an excellent goal from junior midfielder Nick Gutmann, who shot the ball to the bottom-right corner of the net despite FAU’s senior goalkeeper Neil Strauber slightly getting his hand on it. Sophomore midfielder Enzo Mauriz received the assist.

FAU struggled offensively when halftime came around, recording no shots as Kentucky had its defensive tactics work to perfection.

Senior midfielder Blake Dean recorded the Owls’ first shot in the 58th minute. Unfortunately for him, it wasn’t on target as it went high over the crossbar.

Kentucky got its last goal in the 65th minute thanks to another corner kick. Grassow put the ball in the box for fifth-year midfielder Bailey Rouse to tap it past Strauber to extend the lead to three.

The Owls had their first shot on target in the 81st minute from junior midfielder Jose Alastuey as it was a good effort to the low-right corner of goal, but Kentucky’s graduate goalkeeper Jan Hoffelner denied him the goalscoring opportunity.

Kentucky dominated the offensive statline when the game concluded, taking a whopping 19 shots to FAU’s three. That includes seven shots on goal from the Wildcats to just one from the Owls. 

Taking the sixth seed, the Owls will know their third-seeded opponent in the C-USA Tournament once the regular season ends on Saturday, Nov. 6 after the season finale between the University of Charlotte and the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). The tournament, which begins on Nov. 10 and ends on Nov. 14, 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.