FAU Women’s Soccer: Owls get shut down, lose 3-0 to USF
Defensive tactics from USF kept the Owls from scoring Sunday afternoon.
Sammy Vitols (pictured white, #28) keeps the ball away from the USF defender. Photo by Eston Parker III.
February 7, 2021
FAU women’s soccer (0-2-0) will remain winless to start the season, as the team lost to the South Florida Bulls (1-0-0) 3-0 at FAU Soccer Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
After conceding five goals in the loss to Utah Valley on Feb. 4, the Owls were hoping not to be in the same situation again. The Bulls, however, had different plans in mind.
10 minutes in, USF would score its first goal to start the game. It was brilliantly created by freshman defender Vivianne Bessette, who made the through-pass to junior forward Sydny Nasello, who was wide-open as she easily kicked it into the net.
Defensive issues hurt FAU early on, as the team kept leaving the sides open for USF to take advantage of.
The Bulls would score again in the 17th minute, with Nasello being the one to play the through-ball cleverly and senior midfielder Sabrina Wagner this time scoring for USF.
While FAU suffered defensive lapses that had them concede these two goals in the first half, the team couldn’t get much going on offense. Only one shot was attempted by FAU near the end of halftime by freshman midfielder Natalie Mangayi, but the shot went nowhere near to being contested by USF’s junior goalkeeper Sydney Martinez.
The third and final goal from USF came early in the second half. It was a brilliant free-kick from 25 yards out in the 51st minute by Bessette, as the ball hit the post first before entering the net to expand the Bulls’ lead to three.
It can be said it was frustrating for freshman goalkeeper Amit Cohen, who conceded eight goals in her first two games for the Owls this season.
Despite the efforts of the Owls to push the ball more as the half went on, they could not get past senior defender Chyanne Dennis, who prevented them from getting any opportunity to score at all the entire game.
The Owls will play their next game on the road, as they head to Fort Myers to play Florida Gulf Coast University on Feb. 11 at 7 p.m.
Richard Pereira is the Sports Editor for the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected] or tweet him @Rich26Pereira.
