Nov. 1, 2004

The Florida Atlantic University men's soccer team will go into the final two games of the season this week with a title never before bestowed upon an Owls' men's soccer team: Atlantic Sun Conference regular season champions.

Last week's wins over Georgia State (3-2) and Mercer (3-1) were the sixth and seventh in a row, gave the Owls (11-2, 7-1) at least a share of the conference title, and a guaranteed bye in the first round of the conference tournament. A point at Stetson or a Jacksonville win or tie against UCF in Thursday's contests will give the Owls the outright title. FAU will complete their schedule with a home senior day game versus Adelphi on Sunday evening.

Stetson are coming off a massive come-from-behind 4-3 victory over Jacksonville on Sunday that kept the Hatters (9-6-1, 4-4) in the race for a tournament spot. Down 3-1 with 40 minutes to play, Stetson got two goals from Jason Osborne and a goal from John Alexander to seal the win. They can secure the sixth and final seed with a point against the Owls or if Jacksonville fails to defeat UCF.

Osborne, the reigning A-Sun Offensive Player-of-the-Week, is by far the Hatters' most dangerous player. The three-time All-Conference selection from Leicester, England leads the team in goals (8), assists (5) and points (21), and has six goals in his last five games. On the defensive side, sophomore Jeff Smeraglinolo has started in goal for all but one of the Hatters' 16 games.

FAU leads the all-time series 17-8-2 and defeated the Hatters twice in 2003, 2-1 during the regular season and 4-1 in the conference tournament semifinals.

Adelphi, the Owls' final regular season opponents, head to South Florida with a two-game win streak after winning only three of their first 11 games. The Panthers (5-7-1, 0-2-1) will face FIU in an Atlantic Soccer Conference match on Friday in Miami before heading north to Boca Raton.

Led by Israeli senior midfielder Tal Sheinfeld's 15 points (5G, 5A), the Panthers have scored only 19 goals in their 13 games this season and have been shut out four times. They currently sit tied for last place in the ASC with Philadelphia University.

The only other meeting between the two teams occurred in 2002 when the Owls took a 3-2 decision over the Panthers thanks to two second-half goals by Kristoffer Aarskog. Aarskog is out for the season after breaking his leg in the 3-2 defeat of Georgia State on October 29th.

Tickets for Sunday's season finale are $4 for adults and $2 for seniors/children. There will be a Senior Day ceremony conducted before the game. Call 866-FAU-OWLS for more ticket information.