Ivan Mykhailenko scored both goals for the FAU in victory.
Photo courtesy of Michelle Friswell.
FAU men’s football (5-2-2, 2-2-0 C-USA) continued its winning streak on Saturday afternoon at the FAU football stadium, winning the University of South Carolina Gamecocks (6-6 -1, 0-3- 1 C-USA) 2-1.
The Owls wasted no time on the scoreboard, as they scored two minutes of play. The goal came from a bad pass by South Carolina redshirt goalkeeper Ryan Bilichuk, who was punished by striker Ivan Mykhailenko, who scored his third goal of the season for the Owls.
Mykhailenko added another goal to the curriculum, scoring in the 21st minute to complete the goal. Assistance went to second-year defender Tom Abrahamsson.
FAU was aggressive defensively in the first half, winning the ball several times at the expense of South Carolina.
Gamecocks scored a goal in the 61st minute when freshman defender Justin Kopay crossed for striker Brian Banahan, who headed the ball past FAU junior goalkeeper Neil Strauber into the net.
South Carolina tried to find more opportunities to equalize before the end of the game, but their shots went wide, letting the FAU escape with their fifth overall win of the season.
The Owls will return on the road to Huntington, W.Va., facing the Marshall Thundering Herd on April 3 at 2pm. It will be broadcast on ESPN +.
Richard Pereira is the Sports Editor at University Press. For information on this or other stories, send an email [email protected] or tweet for him @ Rich26Pereira.