Southern Miss
Florida Atlantic
Soccer Earns First C-USA Win Against FAU
10/6/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
HATTIESBURG, Miss. â€" The Southern Miss soccer team captured a 2-1 win against Florida Atlantic for its first Conference USA win Thursday afternoon at the USM Soccer Complex.
Rikke Randrup's penalty kick in the 7th minute of the game put the Golden Eagles up early. The penalty kick was the first PK awarded to the Golden Eagles this season and was Randrup's first goal of the year.
"It feels really good because I've been wanting to score for a while," Randrup said. "I was so nervous but I knew I could do it. I've done it before and when you're the one who wants to take it, it's going to go in."
It took the Owls only 78 seconds to tie the game to 1-1 . Mary O'Hara scored her second goal of the season off a corner kick from Asta Arnadottir. The Golden Eagles were unable to clear the ball from the box and O'Hara was able to tap the ball in from inside the 6-yard box.
The game remained that way until the 55th minute when Stephanie Garcia put the Golden Eagles ahead of the Owls for good.
Garcia had her first shot saved by Sydne Drinkwater but then got a second opportunity right in front of the net. Garcia's shot inside the 18-yard box put the Golden Eagles ahead 2-1.
The Golden Eagles maintained a strong defense and only allowed nine shots in the second half. Brittany Taylor made a huge save in the 87th minute to keep the Golden Eagles ahead and finished the game with six saves.
"It's really big momentum for us going on the road for conference next week," Taylor said. "Our team came up big and ended up getting a big win at home." The Golden Eagles improve to 6-4-1 on the season and 1-3-1 in C-USA play.
The Golden Eagles return to action when they play host to Jackson State, Sunday, Oct. 9th at 1 p.m at the Southern Miss Soccer Complex.
