Howard's scoreless first half gives way to 4-0 loss against FDU

Howard kept FDU off the scoreboard for 45 minutes Thursday, but Ana Salas scored three times after halftime as the Knights pulled away for a 4-0 Northeast Conference women's soccer victory at Greene Stadium in Washington.

The loss on October 22 left the Bison 2-7-4 overall and 2-3-2 in the NEC. FDU improved to 9-2-4 and 7-0-1, clinched a conference-tournament berth and extended its unbeaten run to 13 matches. Official result and FDU's game report

The break came after halftime

FDU held an 8-3 edge in first-half shots, but Howard put two attempts on target and forced Rosemarie Leblanc to work to preserve the tie. The Knights' five shots on goal before the break were all saved. The score remained 0-0 despite the visitors generating more chances. FDU's first-half account

Salas opened the scoring at 52:44, with Izarbe Grao and Candela Espana credited with assists. Espana doubled the lead at 62:59 off Salas' assist. The two goals gave Howard less than half an hour to find a response against a team that had conceded only two goals in its first seven conference matches.

Howard then went down to 10 players after an 80th-minute red card. Salas scored again at 82:11 and completed the hat trick at 84:44. The official scoring summary credits Grao on the third goal and Andrea Araujo on the fourth. Official scoring summary

Too little attacking pressure

FDU finished with a 17-4 advantage in shots and a 10-3 edge in attempts on target. Howard managed only one shot in the second half, leaving little opportunity to reduce the deficit before Salas' late goals. Leblanc made three saves for the shutout; the Bison recorded six saves. Official match statistics

The setback followed a 3-3 draw at LIU on October 18. Howard had received goals from Asia Mickens-Perez, Nadia Bolden and Sinclaire Green in that match, but could not reproduce that output against FDU. The Knights arrived after a scoreless draw at New Haven and resumed scoring in the second half at Greene Stadium. Howard's pregame form

Next for the Bison

Howard is scheduled to visit Stonehill at Skyhawk Field in North Easton, Massachusetts, on Sunday, October 25, at 1 p.m. Eastern. After three goals against LIU and none against FDU, the immediate task is to generate sustained chances without allowing another match to separate so sharply after halftime. Current Stonehill schedule