Florida Atlantic traveled to Tulsa in search of their first conference win of the season. The win must wait for FAU as a late penalty kick goal gave the Golden Hurricanes (2-7-1) (1-2) their first conference win and second win of the year instead. It was a crazy first 15 minutes, as Florida Atlantic had three shots with two on goal. The Owls also had a replay overturn a goal even though an angle showed the Owls were on-sides during the attack. The first half closed scoreless 0-0. The Owls had eight shots with five on goal. The Golden Hurricanes had eight corners. Both teams were humming offensively. Defensively, Nacho Alfaro had two saves while Tulsa’s Alex Lopez had five. The most dominant men on the field were the referees though, as they gave out six yellow cards in the first half. Four to Tulsa, two to Florida Atlantic. Coming out of halftime, the Golden Hurricanes scored quickly as Gijs Hovius found the bottom left of the net to take the 1-0 advantage in the 50th minute. It was not long before the Owls struck back as Mamadou Diarra earned his fourth goal of the season to even the match 1-1. Right after Diarra’s goal, Aboubacar Traore received a yellow card in the 64th minute. A total of seven yellow cards in less than 70 minutes. The remainder of the match saw the Owls and Golden Hurricanes trading attacks. In the final moments of the match, a penalty was awarded to Tulsa due to an unfortunate handball in the penalty box for FAU. The match came down to a Camilo Vargas vs. Nacho Alfaro penalty kick. In the 89th minute, Vargas shot left, Alfaro jumped right. The final minute melted away as the Owls fell to Tulsa 2-1. Simply put, it was a yellow card festival. It seemed at times the referees were concerned more about giving out bookings than the match it self. A total of 11 yellow’s were given; five for FAU, six for Tulsa. Diarra had the lone goal for the Owls, but the leading shot taker was Noah Kvifte with four shots and three on goal. Florida Atlantic had 13 shots with six on goal, while Tulsa’s dominant second half helped lead to a 14 shot, six shot on goal performance. The Golden Hurricanes also dominated the corners stat 12-3. The Owls (2-4-3) (0-1-1) come back to Paradise to face off against the USF Bulls (3-2-4) (1-1). The Bulls face off against Temple and Stetson before they come Southeast to Boca Raton. The match is Friday, October. 11 at 7 P.M.
