Florida Atlantic women’s soccer rallied from a 2-0 halftime deficit to defeat Charlotte 3-2 on Thursday, Sept. 17, at FAU Soccer Stadium in Boca Raton. The victory came in Florida Atlantic’s first American Conference match of the season and gave the Owls their first conference win. Amelia Hillman scored the game-winning goal in the 84th minute, the first goal of her collegiate career.
Charlotte took a 2-0 lead on goals by Evie Craven in the 12th and 31st minutes. Florida Atlantic answered with three goals after halftime, including two from Hailey Santiago. Santiago scored her first goal on a penalty-kick rebound and then headed in the equalizer off a long ball from Sydney Neira less than three minutes later.
Hillman finishes the comeback
Florida Atlantic took its first lead with under seven minutes remaining. Georgia Cousins sent a cross from the right to Hillman, who finished with one touch on the right side of the goal. The goal was Hillman’s first as a collegiate player and completed the Owls’ comeback.
Charlotte created four shot attempts during the final four minutes, but Florida Atlantic goalkeeper Lily Holden turned away the late pressure. Holden made six saves, including two during Charlotte’s final attack. She improved to 2-0-1 in three starts in goal.
Cousins and Neira each recorded their first assist of the season. Charlotte’s goals were assisted by Kathleen Ngulefac and Annabelle Walker on the first score and Grace Keighley on the second. Santiago now has nine goals in 10 matches and is tied atop the individual American Conference leaderboard.
Milestone for Patrick Baker
The match was Florida Atlantic head coach Patrick Baker’s 700th career game as a collegiate head coach. The Owls improved to 3-3-4, while Charlotte fell to 4-4-0. Lola Hathorne and Cicely-Ann Spencer-Wickham played the entire match, while Selena Gaytan played 82 minutes.
Next match
Florida Atlantic will play its next American Conference match at UAB on Thursday, Sept. 24, in Birmingham, Alabama. The match is scheduled for 8 p.m. Eastern. ESPN+ and live stats are listed for the match.
Source: Original report