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The #24 USF women’s soccer team cruised to another easy victory, this time 4-0 over Detroit Mercy in Tampa on Thursday night.
FINAL | USF 4, UDM 0
— USF Women's Soccer (@USFWSOC) August 31, 2018
USF takes down Detroit Mercy with a pair of goals from Viens, one from Megrath and one from Hauksdottir!#RiseUp #HornsUp pic.twitter.com/lm9ucI8Moy
The Bulls got off to a fast start when junior winger Aubrey Megrath scored 2:01 into the game. Junior forward Evelyne Viens made a run down the line into the box, and laid it off for an easy finish for Megrath.
After that, USF let off the pressure some. The Bulls didn’t completely dominate the game like they did against Baylor, but Detroit Mercy didn’t get many good looks on goal. Their best chance game off a set piece. Freshman keeper Syndey Martinez deflected the header off a free kick into the crossbar and controlled the rebound. That was as close as Detroit got to scoring.
Viens added her second of the year in the 42nd minute after a simple turn and fire on a through ball from sophomore midfielder Fanny Pelletier-Laroche. In the 55th minute, junior midfielder Andrea Hauksdottir snagged a goal from the top of the 18. The ball took a weird bounce and flew past Detroit keeper Mariana Manzo, who ended up awkwardly rooted to the spot.
Viens added a second in the 61st. She received a long ball over the top, which she deftly flicked over her defender on the volley, then rolled it past Manzo for her third goal of the year.
“I think you guys are witnessing a good style of play,” said Coach Denise Schilte-Brown after the game. “We’re not just playing to score goals, we’re trying to play for the future when we play teams that it’s a little bit harder to just go down the channel and take people on. The way we were moving the ball, I thought, was excellent.”
The Bulls did ease off the gas pedal toward the end of the game, and 11 bench players made it into the game, including sophomore keeper Rikki Farquharson. Detroit made a few hopeful attacks, but nothing in the second half ever truly threatened USF. The Bulls were generally dominant, despite Detroit’s game plan not playing into USF’s hands quite as well as Baylor’s game did.
The Bulls head up to Navy for a non-conference showdown next Friday, and will stay for a clash against the University of Delaware on Sunday. USF returns home on September 13th vs Western Carolina.