Florida Atlantic men's soccer (3-4-3, 1-2-1 AAC) scored in the first minute and didn't look back in a 3-1 victory over South Florida (4-3-4, 2-2 AAC) on Friday night. The win was the Owls' first over South Florida since the year 2000.
Mamadou Diarra took just 49 seconds to put the Owls in front. Aboubacar Traore delivered a cross into the six-yard box and Diarra redirected it into the top corner for his fifth goal of the season. Traore was involved again in the 20th minute. This time, he played in Noah Kvifte behind the Bulls' backline and Kvifte picked out the bottom left corner to make it 2-0.
After setting up the first two goals, it was finally Traore's turn to get in on the goalscoring himself. In the 25th minute, the Ivory Coast native curled a long-range effort into the top corner for his third goal of the campaign.
South Florida got on the board at the buzzer in the first half. Nacho Alfaro came out to the top of the box to challenge a cross but collided with a Bulls' player. USF's Mathis Haugen put a shot toward the open goal, and it crossed the line with a second left.