For the second time in three days, the Valparaiso University women’s soccer team engaged in a defensive battle with a strong team out of Florida, but the Crusaders were unable to come away with the win on Sunday, falling 1-0 on a second-half goal to host Florida Atlantic in Boca Raton, Fla.

Key Moment

Valpo had kept the host Owls from tallying a single shot on goal through the first two-thirds of the game, but what turned out to be FAU’s only effort on net proved to be the deciding goal, as Mary O’Hara scored in the 68th minute.

How It Happened

• In fact, the Crusaders did not surrender a single shot attempt to FAU in the first half. Valpo was limited to just four first-half shot attempts of its own, but put three on goal, forcing Owl goalkeeper Jennifer Ocampo into a trio of saves.
• Valpo had a number of set piece efforts as the game approached the hour mark, earning four corners in a span of less than 10 minutes, but couldn’t connect on any of them.
• The breakthrough came for the Owls in the 68th minute, as O’Hara unleashed a shot which ricocheted off the left post of the goal frame and in. Jessica Monteiro and Alex Mastrobuono recorded the assists on O’Hara’s goal.
• The Crusaders pushed late in search of the equalizer, but a shot from sophomore Adi Johnson (Rockford, Ill./Rockford Christian) was blocked in the 88th minute and a corner just over a minute later went for naught.

Inside the Match

• Valpo had a trio of players honored as All-Tournament Team members at the conclusion of the Owl Classic. Johnson was joined by juniors Natalia Kontul (Solon, Ohio/Solon) and Kelsey Jahn (Oregon, Wis./Oregon) as honorees for their performances over the weekend.
• The Crusaders held a 7-5 shot advantage over FAU on Sunday, including a 3-1 edge in shots on goal. Valpo also attempted five corner kicks to the Owls’ three.
• The pair of 1-0 defeats on the weekend marked just the second time in the last eight seasons that the Crusaders have suffered back-to-back 1-0 losses – the only previous time in that stretch came against Milwaukee and Detroit in late October of 2015.

Next Up

Valpo (2-2-0) returns to the friendly confines of Brown Field next weekend for a pair of fixtures, starting with a 7:30 p.m. kickoff Friday evening against Eastern Illinois. Live stats for the match will be available via ValpoAthletics.com.