Standout student-athletes from men’s soccer, women’s golf and women’s soccer programs to be inducted this fall
TAMPA, JUNE 21, 2023 – Three standout student-athletes from USF men’s soccer, women’s golf, and women’s soccer have been selected for induction into the USF Athletic Hall of Fame as the Class of 2023, the ninth to be inducted since the first Hall of Fame class was enshrined in 2009.
The 2023 Hall of Fame class of Jeff Attinella (men’s soccer, 2007-10), Kelly Lagedrost (women’s golf, 1997-2001) and Evelyne Viens (women’s soccer, 2016-19) will be inducted in Tampa during the Nov. 11 USF vs. Temple football game weekend and will be honored at the game in Raymond James Stadium.
Attinella will be the second men’s soccer player to be inducted, but the first since Fergus Hopper (1974-77) in 2011. Meanwhile, Lagedrost and Viens will be the first student-athletes inducted from their respective sports. Viens was inducted in her first year of eligibility (four years beyond their last collegiate competition) in which voting occurred and joins Quinton Flowers (football), Matthew O’Neal (men’s track and field) and Courtney Williams (women’s basketball) among recent first-ballot inductees.
“USF Athletics proudly welcomes the members of the 2023 Hall of Fame Class and we are excited to have the first inductees from the sports of women’s golf and women’s soccer,” USF Vice President of Athletics Michael Kelly said. “The tradition of USF Athletics continues to grow, and the three honorees in the Class of 2023 have truly left memorable and transformational marks on USF Athletics. We look forward with excitement to welcoming this class back to campus this fall and celebrating their many accomplishments.”
Details and ticket information for the Thurs., Nov. 9 induction ceremony for the 2023 USF Athletic Hall of Fame class to be held at the Hilton Tampa Downtown will be announced at a later date.
The USF Athletic Hall of Fame, which inducted its first class in 2009, will swell to 34 individuals and one team among its honored members of outstanding contributors to Bulls athletics. The 2023 class will be the fourth to be inducted to the Hall of Fame since 2013.
USF Athletic Hall of Fame inductees and their biographies may be found HERE.
Jeff Attinella • Men’s Soccer (2007-10)
An NSCAA First-Team All-American goalkeeper (2009), Jeff Attinella is one of just three student-athletes to receive that honor in USF men’s soccer history. A three-time All-Region selection and three-time Big East All-Conference honoree, earning first-team honors in both in 2009, Attinella played on four NCAA Tournament Teams and helped lead the 2007 team to the NCAA Sweet 16 and the 2008 team to the NCAA Elite Eight.
The Clearwater, Fla. native was a stalwart on the Bulls’ 2008 Big East Tournament championship team, earning all-tournament honors, the following year he was named the 2009 Big East Conference Goalkeeper of the Year.
Attinella started in 61 games for USF and compiled a school-record 28 career shutouts, including a single-season record 12 in 2008, and never lost a home game in Tampa in his first three years on campus. The 32-match home unbeaten streak was the third-longest in NCAA history at the time. He ended his career 38-14-9 overall record.
Attinella went on to be a first-round MLS Supplemental Draft selection and 14th overall pick by Real Salt Lake in 2011 and produced an 11-year professional soccer career (2011-21). He signed with FC Tampa Bay and then went on to play every minute of every match for the Tampa Bay Rowdies in the 2012 NASL season, earning five Defensive Player of the Week honors and one NASL Player of the Month before being named to the 2012 NASL Best XI. He saved three penalty kicks in the Rowdies’ 2012 NASL championship victory against the Minnesota Stars FC.
He eventually signed with Real Salt Lake and made 29 appearances for them, helping them with an MLS Western Conference title (2013), before being selected in the 2016 MLS Expansion Draft by Minnesota and being traded to the Portland Timbers. He made 52 appearances for the Timbers and helped them win a Western Conference championship (2018). In all, he made 141 appearances in professional soccer.
In 2020, Attinella became an author and began publishing children’s books centered on iconic sports moments.
Kelly Lagedrost • Women’s Golf (1997-2001)
A two-time NGCA First-Team All-American (1998 & 1999), Lagedrost won two NCAA Regional titles (still the only player to do so for the program) and was a two-time NCAA National Championship qualifier and two-time NCAA Regional qualifier.
Named to the Conference USA All-Decade Team, Lagedrost earned C-USA Player of the Year honors in 2000 and 2001 and was a four-time first-team all-conference selection (1998-2001). Named the 1998-99 USF Female Athlete of the Year and USF Alumni Association Student-Athlete of the Year she set several program records during her career. Her No. 18 national ranking marked the lowest for a USF women’s golfer and she set season records for wins (2), scoring average (74.78), rounds under par (10) and nine top 10 finishes in 10 events played in 1998-99. She also recorded a record-low career scoring average (75.86) and a record-low 18-hole (66) and 54-hole (213) scores.
A three-time NCGA Academic All-American and Cum Laude graduate of USF, she led the Bulls to C-USA championships in 1998, 1999 and 2000.
Lagedrost went on to play on the LPGA tour (2004-06), making 12 cuts in 2004 and finishing 22nd on the money list in 2005 when she also played in the U.S. Open. She played on the Duramed Futures Tour, making 59 cuts in five years on tour and posting six top-10 finishes. She set a tournament course record with a 63 at the 2005 Lima Memorial Hospital Futures Classic. The 1995 Florida state high school champion returned to USF to serve as interim head coach in 2006-07.
Evelyne Viens • Women’s Soccer (2016-19)
A 2021 Olympic gold medalist while playing for Canada in the Tokyo Games, Viens became the first USF alumni to earn an Olympic gold medal as an athlete and left her mark all over the women’s soccer record book while helping lead the program to three conference titles and three NCAA Tournament appearances.
Viens was a three-time All-America Team selection, the first ever for the USF women’s soccer program, and was a two-time American Athletic Conference Player of the Year (2018 & 2019) while earning four first-team all-conference selections. Named the AAC Rookie of the Year in 2016, she also was named the 2019 AAC Tournament Most Outstanding Player after leading the Bulls to a conference tournament title. She also led the Bulls to an AAC Tournament title in 2017 and a regular season AAC championship in 2018, the beginning of a run of five straight seasons with a conference title for the program.
Viens closed her career as the women’s soccer program’s all-time leading scorer (169 pts) and goal scorer (73) while finishing fifth in career assists (23). She led USF in goals, points and shots in each of her four seasons, including scoring a program-record 25 goals and 53 points in 2019, setting the single-season conference goal record in the process. She was named the AAC Player of the Week a record six times in 2019, part of a record 15 in her career, and earned National Player of the Week honors from the USCA and Top Drawer Soccer. The two-time Hermann Watch List honoree also earned first-team USCA All-South Region and Top Drawer Soccer’s Best IX Team.
Viens also set program records for season game-winning goals (10), shots (113) and season hat tricks (4) while setting conference season records for goals (25), goals per game (0.95) and points per game (2.65) and career marks for goals (73), goals per game (0.95), points (169), points per game (2.19), shots (360) and shots per game (4.68).
A member of the Canadian National Team with four goals to her name, Viens was selected fifth overall by Sky Blue FC in the 2020 NWSL College Draft. She scored her first goal for the club on July 22, 2020, in a 3–2 defeat to the Chicago Red Stars during the semi-finals of the 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup. She also plays professionally for Gotham FC, Paris FC and Damallsvenskan Club Kristianstads.
USF HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES BY SPORT
Administration (3): Dick Bowers (AD), Lee Roy Selmon (AD), Paul Griffin (AD)
Coaches (4): Sherry Bedingfield (WTen, also as an SA), Dan Holcomb (MSoc), Robert Grindey (MSwim), Bobby Paschal (MBB)
Teams: 1984-85 Women’s Swimming Team
Women’s Basketball (4): Wanda Guyton, Jessica Dickson, Shantia Grace, Courtney Williams
Men’s Basketball (3): Charlie Bradley, Rodenko Dobras, Chucky Atkins
Football (4): Anthony Henry, Marquel Blackwell, George Selvie, Quinton Flowers
Softball (2): Monica Triner, Sara Nevins
Women’s Track & Field (2): Karine Black, Dayana Octavien
Baseball (2): Ross Gload, Chris Heintz
Men’s Soccer (2): Fergus Hopper, Jeff Attinella
Volleyball (2): Michelle Collier, Erica Berggren
Women’s Soccer (1): Evelyne Viens
Women’s Golf (1): Kelly Lagedrost
Men’s Track and Field (1): Matthew O’Neal
Men’s Tennis (1): Jeff Davis
Women’s Tennis (1): Sherry Bedingfield
Rifle (1): Michelle Scarborough
Men’s Swimming (1): Joe Lewkowicz
About USF Athletics
USF Athletics currently sponsors 19 varsity men’s and women’s teams that compete in 11 different sports, 18 at the NCAA Division I level in the American Athletic Conference, which will expand to 21 teams with the recently announced additions of women’s lacrosse (2024-25) and women’s beach volleyball. The Bulls’ athletic program began in 1965 and is in its 57th season in 2022-23. Nearly 450 student-athletes train and compete in the athletic district located on the east end of the campus in Tampa, Fla. The Bulls have claimed 26 American Athletic Conference team titles since joining the conference in 2013, including seven trophies in the 2021 calendar year, and own 140 conference titles claimed in 15 sports in department history, led by 20 each for men’s tennis and men’s soccer. USF has claimed 74 men’s conference championships and 64 women’s titles, led by 14 in women’s tennis and 12 in volleyball. The Bulls have posted a combined annual grade-point average over 3.0 for more than eight straight years and have posted a program record of 17 straight semesters with a combined GPA over 3.0 as of the spring of 2023. USF has had over 600 student-athletes earn their degree since 2016-17.
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