BOCA RATON, Florida – Southern Miss (9-3-3), the West Division No. 1 seed, got first-half goals from Sam Stiglmair and Blessing Kingsley as the Golden Eagles defeated host and East No. 4 seed Florida Atlantic (6-7-5) 2-1 in the last quarterfinal game of the 2021 Conference USA Women’s Soccer Championship at FAU Soccer Stadium.
 
The victory by Southern Miss advanced the Golden Eagles to the C-USA semifinals against West No. 3 seed UAB on Friday at 7 pm ET/6 pm CT.
 
Southern Miss got on the board early with a goal by Stiglmair in the 2nd minute with an assist from Ilana Izquierdo. The Golden Eagles doubled their lead to 2-0 in the 39th minute on a goal from Kingsley with an assist from Ariel Diaz.
 
Florida Atlantic’s Miracle Porter cut the lead in half in the 89th minute on a goal that was assisted by Amber Tam.
 
Florida Atlantic outshot Southern Miss 12-9 overall, while the Golden Eagles had a 6-4 edge in shots on goal. Southern Miss goalkeeper Kendell Mindnich made a pair of saves, while FAU goalie Amit Cohen had four saves.
 
2021 C-USA Women’s Soccer Championship Schedule
November 1-7, 2021 – Boca Raton, Florida (hosted by Florida Atlantic)
 
Monday, November 1 - First Round
Game 1: (4W) UTSA 1, (5W) North Texas 0 (2OT)
Game 2: (5E) Charlotte 2, (4E) Florida Atlantic 2 (2OT; FAU advances 5-4 on PKs)
 
Wednesday, November 3 - Quarterfinals
Game 3: (3E) Middle Tennessee 0, (2W) Rice 0 (2OT; MTSU advances 4-3 on PKs)
Game 4: (1E) Old Dominion 1, (4W) UTSA 0 (OT)
Game 5: (3W) UAB 1, (2E) WKU 0
Game 6: (1W) Southern Miss 2, (4E) Florida Atlantic 1
 
Friday, November 5 - Semifinals
Game 7: (3E) Middle Tennessee vs. (1E) Old Dominion (ESPN+) – 4:30 pm ET/3:30 pm CT
Game 8: (3W) UAB vs. (1W) Southern Miss (ESPN+) – 7 pm ET/6 pm CT
 
Sunday, November 7 - Championship Game
Game 9: Semifinal Winners (ESPN+) – 1 pm ET/12 pm CT