FAU men’s soccer (3-1-2, 0-1-0 C-USA) received its first loss of Conference USA play Saturday afternoon, losing 2-0 to the Florida International University Panthers (3-1-0, 1-0-0 C-USA) at FIU Soccer Stadium.

The Panthers struck first in the 19th minute, when redshirt senior Alessandro Campoy slipped the ball past FAU’s junior goalkeeper Neil Strauber to give FIU the lead. The assist went to both junior midfielder Mauro Bravo and sophomore defender Anthony Cousins Jr.

Senior forward Ivan Mykhailenko made an effort to equalize with a strong shot in the 21st minute, but it was saved by FIU’s junior goalkeeper Johan Penaranda.

Another opportunity to tie came for FAU as a penalty kick in the 45th minute but junior midfielder Alonso Coello Camarero missed by kicking the ball to the crossbar, keeping the Owls down by one at halftime.

The Owls found another scoring opportunity to start the second half with a shot from junior midfielder Blake Dean, but that was saved by Penaranda.

FIU put the game away in the 74th minute when freshman midfielder Omri Ezra passed the ball to Bravo, who scored by heading it into the net.

FAU fought well despite the loss, continuing to look for opportunities against a strong opposition in the Panthers.

The Owls will return home to FAU Soccer Stadium to face the Kentucky Wildcats on March 13 at 2 p.m. It will be broadcast on C-USA TV.

Richard Pereira is the Sports Editor for the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected] or tweet him @Rich26Pereira.