TEMPLE TERRACE, Fla. ( Sept. 28, 2023) – Despite capturing some momentum over its last two contests, Florida National’s women’s soccer team suffered a dominant loss to Florida College, 6-2. This was FNU (0-4-2) and FC’s (2-5-2) first taste of Continental Athletic Conference (CAC) play and the Conquistadors will continue to wait for their first win in 2023.
The Falcons wasted no time putting real daylight between them and the visiting Conquistadors, racking up four goals in the first half. FC’s first goal of the evening was set in motion off a corner kick taken by Yaritza Vasquez. The deflected pass was then bounced around dangerously in the penalty box until Yaritza Vasquez found Victoria Fonseca for a confident strike that flew past FNU goalie Andrea Oropeza.
FNU’s Mickaela Calisto tried to get her team moving and got off two shots that missed the mark high and wide right, respectively. At the 29th-minute mark, Paula Rincon Carrillo made it 2-0 thanks to a heads-up assist by Claribel Hernandez. Corner kicks continued to work in the Falcons’ favor, as just two minutes after Carrillo’s goal, Hernandez secured a score of her own following a Vasquez corner.
Despite holding a 3-0 advantage, the Falcons did not take their foot off the gas, as Logan McCord scored the Falcons’ fourth goal of the evening with four minutes left before halftime.
Florida College was comfortably in the driver’s seat despite only leading the match with 12 shots to FNU’s nine early in the second half. Oropeza had four saves and FNU attempted one corner kick to FC’s four. But just past the 57th-minute mark, the Falcons’ Marta Cuenca made it a 5-0 affair with an unassisted score. The hits kept on coming for Florida National, as Hernandez picked up her second goal of the match on an assist from Cuenca just seven minutes later.
Johanna Andersson had seen enough. FNU’s forward from Kungsbacka, Sweden, took matters into her own hands and volleyed a much-needed goal over the reaching arms of FC’s goalie Gabriella Peralta. FNU’s second goal of the match came at the feet of Andersson with under a minute to play.
FC ended the match with 17 shots, with 13 on goal and a game-high seven corners. FNU notched 13 shots and two corner kicks.
Up Next: FNU has its first and only exhibition of 2023 on the road versus Barry University Oct. 2 at 6 p.m.
