Florida Atlantic men's soccer sent a shockwave through The American on Friday night. The Owls defeated No. 14 FIU 2-1 to earn a massive three points in the conference standings with just one American match left to be played in the regular season.
Victor Claudel put the Owls on the board first in the 12th minute. Leon Reilhac played a ball into space down the right flank and Claudel ran onto it in the penalty area. The FIU goalkeeper came out to challenge Claudel, but the Frenchmen sidestepped him. Despite a tight angle, Claudel was able to find the far corner of the open goal to put the Owls on top. It was his fifth goal of the season.
The Owls carried the 1-0 edge into halftime. Just minutes after the restart of the second half, Noah Kvifte doubled the lead. Leo Keller's cross into the six-yard box was slightly behind Kvifte but the Owls' center forward found a way to redirect it back across his body, into the bottom corner. Kvifte's team-leading sixth goal of the season made for a wild final 40 minutes.
The Owls found another level defensively for the remainder of the second half. Despite FIU getting on the board to make it 2-1 in the 63rd minute, goalkeeper Rotem Fadida stood tall to finish with four total saves. The Owls held on to defeat their rivals from the south for the first time since 2013.
Three conference matches are in store for Saturday night as SMU travels to Tulsa (7 p.m. ET; ESPN+), South Florida hosts UAB (7 p.m. ET; ESPN+) and Temple heads to Memphis (8 p.m. ET; ESPN+).