Freshman forward Tamara Kesser scored her second game-winning goal of the season to give the Florida Atlantic University women’s soccer team a 2-1 road victory over the University of South Alabama on Sunday afternoon.

The goal came four minutes into the second 10-minute overtime session and completed a weekend sweep for the Owls, after the team picked up a 1-0 victory over Troy University on Friday.

“Winning two games on the road were huge for us because we dropped some games earlier that put us into this position where were striving to make postseason play,” said Brian Dooley, head women’s soccer coach.  “South Alabama and Troy are also fighting for a conference tournament berth.  Getting victories over them were big.”

FAU improves to 5-10-2 on the season and 3-5 in conference action.  The two weekend victories have improved the team’s chances of qualifying for the Sun Belt Conference Tournament, which the Owls are hosting on November 4-7 in Boca Raton .

Kesser’s goal was her only shot in the match and was the beneficiary of getting the Jaguars defense out of position.

“We were scrambling at that point of the match and brought Tamara in as a substitution,” noted Dooley.  “She had a corner kick that she mishit toward the near post.  They cleared it out but right to Elaine Chaves, who passed it back to Tamara.  She made one move and beat the ( South Alabama ) goalkeeper.”

The Owls’ other goal came in the 15th minute on a penalty kick by freshman Meghan Brown, giving the visitors a 1-0 edge.  This now marks the second straight match that Brown has scored a goal.

However, South Alabama was quick to answer as Kasey Crowe scored seven minutes later from the middle of the attacking box following a right cross by Liz Clark.

FAU junior midfielder Laura Hyvonen had a team-high three shots in the match.  Junior midfielder Anhahi Tran added two shots while Brown and Kesser each had one shot for the Owls, which were out-shot by the Jaguars 16-7.

Freshman goalkeeper Ashley Lantes picked up the victory in net by recording 11 saves.  She made seven saves in the second half and two more in the first overtime period to keep the match tied.

The Owls will host Arkansas State University on Friday, October 23, starting at 7 p.m. as part of Parent’s Weekend.  South Alabama falls to 2-13-1 overall and 0-7-1 in conference action.

Source: FAU Media Relations