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Men's Soccer
The men's soccer team had a rough weekend, falling to the University of Tampa 1-0 thanks to a late penalty kick. The Bulls outshot UT 19-10, but just could not get the ball into the actual net. USF had a huge crowd of close to 1,800 people at Corbett Stadium to watch the preseason "Rowdies Cup" match, but left them a bit disappointed. I thought at times we were very good. I felt like a team that was close to being really sharp but that was a little bit off in the final third," Head Coach George Kiefer said. Next up for USF is an exhibition match against FGCU down in Fort Myers this Friday night (8/29/14) at 7 PM.
USF will then host national powerhouse Akron in their regular season opener on Thursday, September 4th at 7:30 PM. The Zips go into this season ranked #12 nationally and are a program that has produced loads of professionals that any USA or MLS fan would recognize including: US Men's National Team standout DeAndre Yedlin, Wil Trapp (Columbus Crew), Steve Zakuani (Portland Timbers), Darren Mattocks (Vancouver Whitecaps), Darlington Nagbe (Portland Timbers), and Perry Kitchen (DC United) and on the coaching end- Caleb Porter (Portland Timbers). You don't want to miss this game folks because you never know what future star might be on the field.
Women's Soccer
The women's team kicked off their season on Friday with a 1-0 loss to FAU at home. Just like the men's team, the Bulls outshot FAU in the game, but were unable to capitalize on their chances. "We just took a long time to find a rhythm and really get dangerous," said USF Head Coach Denis Schilte-Brown. "As we settled into the game, we gave up a soft goal. Then we really started to do some good things. But, if you give up one easy goal you're chasing the game. At the end of the game, we didn't catch up."
The Bulls then traveled up to Gainesville on Sunday to face off with the Gators. Unfortunately that also ended in a loss, this time 2-0. USF struggled even more offensively against UF, only registering three shots all game (to UF's 12). Despite the disappointing start to the season, I wouldn't write this team off yet. Still on the team is senior Demi Stokes who is a regular starter for the full England National Team who just secured qualification to the Women's World Cup and the Bulls are always dangerous in soccer, so don't give up on them yet.
Next up for the Bulls is a home game against the Naval Academy on Friday, August 29th at 7:30 PM. USF will certainly be looking for the win and their first goal of the still very young season.
Stay tuned later this week for in-depth previews for both soccer teams and volleyball.