USF Weekly Round-Up 11/4-7

Women’s Soccer beats SMU in semis, loses to Memphis in PK’s in AAC Tournament

Fresh off of clinching the no. 1 seed in the AAC Tournament and securing hosting duties, USF advanced to - and then lost - the AAC Tournament Title in heartbreaking fashion.

On Thursday, the Bulls faced SMU in the Tournament semi-finals seeking revenge for their only conference loss of the season and achieving just that. USF delivered their own 2-0 victory over the Mustangs behind goals from junior Sydny Nasello and sophomore Lucy Roberts highlighted by a beautiful shot in the 56’ minute by Nasello. Junior goalkeeper Sydney Martinez kept her scoreless streak alive at four games not giving up a goal since USF’s last loss to SMU in October.

On Sunday, the Bulls competed in their seventh AAC Tournament Final in the past nine seasons against Memphis and much like the regular season regulation wasn’t enough - and unfortunately for the Bulls it went to penalty kicks after two overtimes. Memphis scored their first three penalty kicks with USF getting blanked and watching the Tigers raise the trophy at Corbett. The Bulls are 1-3 in Tournament Finals that have gone to PK’s, winning once in 2017 vs. C. Martinez once again pitched a shutout notching six saves in all 110 minutes of work.

Despite the PK loss in the conference tournament, there was reason to celebrate as the Bulls were selected to host a first round match-up in the NCAA Tournament vs. NC State. The match will take place on Sunday with the winner headed to Tallahassee.

Men’s Soccer ends season on high note, beating Temple 3-1

It was senior night at Corbett after a rainy day at USF with the Bulls needing a win and Memphis loss to secure an AAC Tournament berth after a resurgent second-half of conference play.

USF started the scoring early in the 3’ with junior Henrique Gallina scoring the first goal for the Bulls. After the equalizer from Temple - looking to avoid a winless conference season - freshman Segun Afolabi put the Bulls ahead for good less than five minutes later. Gallina added his second goal of the game and fifth of the season in the second half to secure the victory. Junior goalkeeper Kazuna Takase tallied four saves on the day.

Unfortunately, SMU didn’t hold up their end of the bargain losing to Memphis 4-1 and eliminating USF from the conference tournament. USF wrapped up the regular season 6-7-2 (4-5-1), but finished 4-1-1 in their last six after starting conference play on a four-game losing streak.

Volleyball loses pair of games on road-trip, still winless in conference play

The Bulls won the first set in both of their matches on the road vs. ECU and Cincinnati, but lost both in similar fashion losing the next three sets each. On Friday in Greenville, freshman Marta Cvitkovic continued her impressive season tallying a double-double with ten kills and 11 digs - both leading the team. After winning the first set 25-21, the Bulls dropped the following three 25-21, 25-22, and 25-17.

On Sunday, USF faced similar odds against the Bearcats who are tied for third in the conference standings. The Bulls jumped out to a one set lead for the sixth time in conference play 25-17, before dropping the next three 25-14, 25-12, and 25-20.

USF (6-19, 0-14) will host SMU on Thursday and Memphis on Saturday seeking their first conference win.

Coming Up

Men’s Basketball and Women’s Basketball start their season on Tuesday in a double-header at the Yuengling Center. Brian Gregory’s re-vamped squad will tip-off vs. Bethune-Cookman at 5 p.m. while Jose Fernandez’ team will face UT - Rio Grande Valley at 8 p.m.