In a conference matchup on Sunday, the Florida Atlantic University Owls (6-5-4, 2-2-2 AAC) faced the University of North Texas Mean Green (8-3-2, 2-2-2 AAC) at home, tying 1-1. This was the last home game of the season for the Owls. 

The Mean Green proved to be a tough opponent, maintaining possession on the Owls’ end of the pitch in the beginning of the first half. 

The Owls had some momentum coming for them, as both teams had shots at each other’s goals, but weren’t able to score. Both teams left the first half scoreless.

Similar to the first half, the second half started out with both teams exchanging shots yielding no positive results. Tension began to rise as neither team was able to score. This culminated in a yellow card that was awarded to FAU junior forward Malaya Melancon. 

Soon after the penalty on Melancon, North Texas senior midfielder Rachel Roebuck scored a goal, putting the Mean Green up 1-0. 

About nine minutes after Roebuck’s goal, FAU sophomore forward Elin Simonardottir scored a goal, giving the Owls a breath of fresh air, evening the game up to 1-1. The fight was back to exactly where it started, an even playing field. By the end of the game, both teams were tied.

“On a Sunday of a two-game weekend, playing Thursday and Sunday, as well as the heat making it a little tougher, […] I thought we did fairly well,” said FAU head coach Patrick Baker after the game. “North Texas is really good. It was disappointing to give up a goal, but I am very pleased with how we responded and found the equalizer.”

Baker sang his praises for senior midfielder Molly Setsma when asked about a particular performance that stood out to him. 

“I thought she was very good for her first start of the year. She’s been coming off a long injury, it was time to put her back in and I feel she rewarded us with a very good performance.”

Coach Baker says he wants to focus on this next week.

“Our best soccer is still out in front of us. We need to watch [the] video, clean some things up, and highlight the things we did well. We still got two weeks left in the season, although all three games are on the road as long as we keep faith and keep trying to improve. Hopefully, our best soccer appears.”

The Owls next matchup will be on the road against The University of Texas at San Antonio Roadrunners (5-6-3, 0-3-2 AAC) on Oct. 19 at 8 p.m. 

Jackson Gore is a contributing writer for the University Press. For information regarding this story or others, email him at [email protected] or DM him at jackson_raton.