USF Soccer Update: Postseason Edition

It's been a while since we've taken a look at the USF soccer teams (mostly my fault), and that's a real shame because they've both been having pretty good years. The regular season ended shortly ago, and both teams had a decent outlook for the American Athletic Conference tournament with a good shot at making the NCAA tournament.

The women's team closed the season undefeated at home (8-0-3) and grabbed a #5 seed in the AAC tournament. They handily beat Connecticut, 4-1 in the first round of the tournament with help from two goals by star Sharla Passariello. The ladies moved on to face #1 seed UCF in the semifinal. After a scoreless regulation, the game had to eventually be decided on penalty kicks, where UCF won 5-3 and went on to win the tournament. The Bulls finished their regular season 10-4-6, but again missed out on an at-large bid for the NCAA tournament, with the last AAC at-large spot going to Louisville.

The men also got a 5 seed in the AAC tournament after finishing 6-3-8 this year and 2-2-4 in conference. The Bulls beat #4 seed Temple on Saturday by Stiven Salinas's lone goal being the deciding factor of the game. USF will be playing #8 seed Rutgers, fresh of their tournament-opening upset of $1 seed Louisville, tomorrow night at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, TX. The Bulls will likely need a conference championship to make the tournament, and a win in this game likely means another showdown with UCF for the title.