CHARLOTTE, North Carolina – Célestin Theodore, Jr.’s goal for Florida Atlantic in the 81st minute, just 47 seconds after Marshall had cut Florida Atlantic’s lead in half, gave the No. 6 Owls a 3-1 upset victory over No. 2 seed Marshall 3-1 in the second semifinal game of the 2021 Conference USA Men’s Soccer Championship at Transamerica Field.
 
The Owls, the first No. 6 seed to advance to the C-USA title game since Charlotte won the 2013 title on the same field as this year’s tournament, will face No. 4 seed Kentucky on Sunday at 1 pm ET/12 pm CT. Kentucky is the first No. 4 seed in the C-USA championship game since Charlotte in 2017. It is the first C-USA championship game appearance for FAU, which joined the league in 2013. Kentucky is in the final for the fourth time, and the first since the Wildcats won the 2018 title on Transamerica Field.
 
Tom Abrahamsson, assisted by Jose Alastuey and Davide Romeo, gave the Owls an early lead with the only goal of the first half in the 19th minute, and the 1-0 FAU lead held up until halftime. In the 76th minute, Ivan Mykhailenko scored on an assist from Blake Dean to push the Owls advantage to 2-0.
 
Marshall kept up the offensive pressure and broke through when Vinicius Fernandes scored an unassisted goal in the 80th minute to pull to 2-1. FAU got the ball after the Herd score and immediately worked the ball toward the Marshall net, where Theodore scored unassisted in the 81st minute to give the Owls a hard-fought victory.
 
Marshall outshot FAU 13-6 overall, and the Herd had a 5-4 edge in shots on goal. Neil Strauber stopped four shots for the Owls, while Marshall’s netminder Oliver Semmie had one save.
 
2021 C-USA Men’s Soccer Championship Schedule
November 10-14, 2021 – Charlotte, North Carolina (hosted by Charlotte)
 
Wednesday, November 10 - Quarterfinals
Game 1: (4) Kentucky 3, (5) Coastal Carolina 1
Game 2: (6) Florida Atlantic 0, (3) Charlotte 0 (2OT; FAU 5-3 PKs)
 
Friday, November 12 - Semifinals
Game 3: (4) Kentucky 3, (1) FIU 0
Game 4: (6) Florida Atlantic 3, (2) Marshall 1
 
Sunday, November 7 - Championship Game
Game 5: (6) Florida Atlantic vs. (4) Kentucky (ESPN+) – 1 pm ET/12 pm CT