The FAU women’s soccer team (6-7-5, 4-3-2 C-USA) were eliminated from the C-USA tournament Wednesday night as they lost 2-1 against the University of Southern Mississippi (Southern Miss) (9-3-3, 5-1-3 C-USA) at FAU Soccer Stadium. 

Freshman goalkeeper Amit Cohen started for the Owls. She had four saves in the loss.

“I think we are a really good team, but we could be in a better place, but it is what it is,” Cohen said.

The Owls did not start well as sophomore midfielder Lauren Holland was issued a yellow card less than two minutes into the game.

Southern Miss started quickly as senior midfielder Sam Stiglmair scored just 1:46 into the game, two seconds after the yellow card. The goal was assisted by freshman midfielder Ilana Izquierdo.

FAU had its first opportunity at 2:22 with a corner kick but could not put the ball on target. 

Senior forward Miracle Porter put the ball on goal again as she was breaking in by herself at 8:56, but graduate goalkeeper Kendell Mindnich made the save. Shortly after, the Owls had their third corner kick and nearly capitalized as Mindnich was out of her net.

The Owls seemed to be gaining momentum throughout the half, but Southern Miss ended that when sophomore forward Blessing Kingsley scored in the bottom-right corner of the goal at 38:13. She was assisted by graduate forward Ariel Diaz. 

At halftime, FAU had seven corner kicks and five shots, including three on goal. 

Graduate forward Bri Austin had the first opportunity to score for FAU in the second half with a shot at 50:22, but she missed to the right side of the goal.

Southern Miss had its next chance when Izquierdo hit the crossbar in the 68th minute.

The Owls started to gain momentum in the final 15 minutes as Austin had a chance but missed high to the right. 

Southern Miss had a pair of shots in the 82nd minute, but Cohen saved both attempts. 

The Owls’ lone goal came at 88:28. Assisted by sophomore defender Amber Tam, Porter found the back of the net in her final game with FAU. 

By the end of the game, the Owls had nine corners and 12 shots with four on target. They will now retool for next season.

The tournament will continue on Friday, Nov. 5 at FAU Soccer Stadium. Southern Miss will face the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) while Old Dominion University takes on Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU). The first game of the semifinals will kickoff at 4:30 p.m., with the second scheduled for 7 p.m. Both games will be broadcast on ESPN+. 

Bryce Totz is a staff writer at the University Press. For more information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected], or tweet him @brycetotz.