The University of North Florida women’s soccer team opened Atlantic Sun conference play this past Thursday evening against Florida Gulf Coast University. The Ospreys had their chances, but were ultimately held scoreless in a 2-0 loss to the Eagles at Hodges Stadium.
The first half was nearly all Eagles, as Florida Gulf Coast had twice the amount of shots on goal as the Ospreys. The Eagles scored their first goal of the night around 17 minutes into the game, a goal that happened on a quick fast break.
The Eagles also had a penalty kick just three minutes later resulting in a miss. Florida Gulf Coast had three times the amount of shots as the Ospreys midway through half one.
The Ospreys settled in after the free kick, holding the Eagles scoreless for the rest of the half. North Florida ended up outshooting the Eagles by one until halftime and trailed 1-0.
One of the Eagles’ shots with about 17 minutes left in the period went inside the goal but not all the way to the net, which prevented another goal for Gulf Coast. Junior goalkeeper Sarah Barrentine made the play and swatted the ball away from the goal.
The second period was more balanced in terms of scoring opportunities. The Ospreys outshot the Eagles by one, but unfortunately couldn’t get on the board. The Eagles did net another goal though, 65 minutes in from a throw-in pass.
When asked what he could assess from the game, head coach Eric Faulconer credited the Eagles and their winning mentality.
“I thought at times we played pretty well,” Faulconer said. “They (FGCU) know how to win, that’s what they do there, they win all the time.”
Faulconer also mentioned that the Ospreys had their chances, but ultimately didn’t play well enough to win tonight.
“We just didn’t do enough tonight. I thought in the second half they (North Florida) played pretty well. We had some chances but we didn’t create really high-quality stuff. Got a big game against Stetson on Sunday. We’ll be alright, I saw some good things tonight. We just gotta get a little bit of a tougher mentality.”
The Ospreys fall to 2-4-2 on the season and 2-2-1 at Hodges Stadium.
As Faulconer mentioned, North Florida will now head on the road this weekend to face the Stetson University Hatters on Sunday. Kickoff will be at 6 p.m. in Deland, Florida.
More information about Women’s soccer and all other Osprey sports can be found on the UNF Athletics website.
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