Owls Weather the Storm: Traore and Diarra Lead FAU MSOC to 2-0 Victory

The Owls looked for their best start since 2021 as Florida Atlantic hosted Omaha on a late night in Boca Raton.

With storms pushing the match back two hours and rain throughout the contest, FAU’s two goal offensive performance and another great day defensively led to another tally in the win column.

First Half

Florida Atlantic’s night started off nicely as Aboubacar Traore (Pictured above, Angelina Labelle) had great foot work in the left side of the box leading to a solid strike from his left foot. The goal put FAU up 1-0 in the 14th minute.

The remainder of the first half stayed in favor of the Owls, as Florida Atlantic dominated the entirety of the first 45 minutes, but were unable to extend the lead.

Halftime Stats

The biggest discrepancy between the sides was the shots total. The Owls had six shots in the first half while the Mavericks were only able to muster up one shot. While Omaha had their chances, they were not able to find anything past the aggressive Owls defense.

Omaha’s Cole Stewart had two saves in the first half, which kept the Mavericks in the contest.

Second Half

The Mavericks had a great opportunity in the 47th minute as a free kick was awarded to Omaha. Luckily for the Owls, a diving save to the left by Alfred Mikkelsen kept the lead for FAU.

The next 25 minutes were full of attacks from the two squads, but a nice cross from Josh Ainge found Mamadou Diarra as the grad senior scored, seemingly putting the nail in the Maverick’s coffin with a 2-0 Owls advantage in the 72nd minute.

The remainder of the match stayed relatively calm as the Owls earned the win over Omaha.

Stats & Leaders

Unlike FAU’s victory over Creighton, the shots differential in Sunday’s contest was all Florida Atlantic. The Owls had 16 shots with five on goal while the Mavericks had only four shots with two on goal.

Traore had himself a night with the goal and an assist. The senior also had three of Florida Atlantic’s five shots on goal.

Owls goalkeeper Mikkelsen had two saves as he had a quieter night compared to his six save evening last Thursday.

Up Next

The Owls (2-0-0) will finish out their season-opening stint in Paradise as Florida Atlantic will host Jacksonville (1-1-0). The Dolphins are coming off a 9-1 bludgeoning over Trinity College of Jacksonville.

Last season the Owls and Jacksonville were unable to score against each other as the contest ended 0-0. Florida Atlantic looks to earn their best start since 1996 on Thursday night with kickoff scheduled for 5:30 PM at FAU Soccer Stadium.

Facebook Comments Box