Gabrielle Privitera tallies two goals in the loss for the Bulls.
TAMPA (Sept. 18, 2021) – The University of South Florida men’s soccer team started its American Athletic Conference schedule against of the top teams in the country on Saturday, falling to No. 9 Tulsa, 5-2, at Corbett Stadium. The Bulls fall to 2-3-1 on the season, and 0-1 in The American while the Golden Hurricane improve to 6-0 overall and 1-0 in league play.
Despite the loss, the Green and Gold had their chances and held a slight 12-11 shot advantage, however, Tulsa had a 7-3 edge in shots on goal.
Tulsa started the scoring early on in the match, converting on a penalty kick in the 4’ as the Golden Hurricane’s Alex Meinhard was taken down in the box and then beat South Florida goalkeeper Ralph Montero, from the spot, to make the score, 1-0.
Tulsa struck again when Malik Henry-Scott took a pass from Meinhard and put the ball in the back of the goal in the 20’.
The Bulls finally got on the board in the 33’ when Gabrielle Privitera took advantage of a Tulsa turnover, dribbled the ball in from just inside midfield, and struck a low bender to the far post, beating keeper Alex Lopez. The goal was only the third goal allowed by Lopez on the year.
After the Privitera goal, the Bulls found new life turning up the pressure offensively on Lopez with multiple opportunities and wreaking havoc for the Golden Hurricane.
South Florida, unfortunately, couldn’t take that pressure and turn it into a score, giving the goal back in the 41’ when Austen Schweinert served a cross into the box, right in front of Montero. That offering found the foot of Takayoshi Wyatt who tapped the ball over the line to make the score 3-1 entering the break.
The Bulls came out in the second half had a prime opportunity, in the 55’, when Oscar Resano served a perfect pass to Josh Gomina, who was streaking up the far-left side. Gomina, however, and had his low bender punched just wide of the far post.
Privitera stepped back up and made his presence felt again in the 61’ when he took a pass from Henrique Gallina and beat Lopez from just three yards out for his second goal of the match. Tulsa, however, struck again, just 27 seconds later, when Schweinert was the recipient of a Luke Jeffus offering and beat Montero to make the score 4-2.
The afternoon became a little more difficult for the Bulls who had to play a man down for the final 16 minutes of action when Julio Plata was given a red card in the 74’. It was the first red card of the season for South Florida.
The Golden Hurricane added an insurance goal in the 81’ when Isaiah Quarcoo took a pass from Ben Barkley and converted on a shot off the outside of his left foot to the left post.
Scoring Summary
Tulsa – Alex Meinhard (Penalty Kick; 4:04)
Tulsa – Malik Henry-Scott (Alex Meinhard; 20:27)
USF – Gabrielle Privitera (Unassisted; 33:05)
Tulsa – Takayoshi Wyatt (Austen Schweinert; 40:34)
USF – Gabrielle Privitera (Henrique Gallina; 60:21)
Tulsa – Austen Schweinert (Luke Jeffus; 60:46)
Tulsa – Isaiah Quarcoo (Ben Barkley; 80:12)
1 2 F
USF 1 1 2
TULSA 3 2 5
Shots: USF 12, TU 11
Shots on Goal: USF 3, TU 7
Saves: USF 2, TU 1
Corner Kicks: USF 4, TU 4
Fouls: USF 7, TU 10
Notable
- Gabrielle Privitera’s two goals marked his first goals in a South Florida uniform.
- In addition, Privitera’s two goals mark the third multi-goal match this season for the Bulls, joining Henrique Gallina who did it in the season opener against Jacksonville on Aug. 26, and Andres Freire who accomplished the feat against Stetson on Sept. 10.
- No. 9 Tulsa is the second Top 10 team that South Florida has faced in the last three matches, joining then No. 4 Clemson … The Bulls will next face No. 13 SMU on Sept. 24.
Up NextFollowing Saturday’s match against Tulsa, the Bulls travel to the Lone Star state to face SMU in Dallas, on Friday, Sept. 24. The kickoff is slated for 8 p.m. ET. USF will return to Corbett Stadium for the first edition of the War on I-4 against UCF, on Sept. 28, at 7 p.m.
Fans can purchase tickets to USF men’s soccer home matches by calling 1-800-GoBulls or at USFBullsTix.com.
All home matches this season, will be broadcast live on either Bulls Unlimited or Bulls Unlimited 2 with Darek Sharp on the call. Both stations are available via the iHeart Radio app (search “USF”) and provide static-free quality whether you’re listening on your streaming device, laptop, or desktop.
In addition to Bulls Unlimited, all of USF’s home regular-season matches will be streamed live on the ESPN+ platform. Subscriptions for the ESPN+ app are $6.99 monthly or $69.99 annually and can be packaged with Hulu and Disney+ streaming services. A step-by-step guide for subscribing to ESPN+ is located here.
About USF Men’s Soccer
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USF Men’s Soccer competed in the school’s first ever intercollegiate athletic contest on Sept. 25, 1965, beating Florida Southern 4-3. Since then, the oldest program on campus has built a winning tradition, claiming 14 conference championships and making 21 NCAA Tournament appearances, including 3 trips to the elite eight.
The program also has a strong reputation within the professional game and boasts 29 MLS draft picks. Notable alumni include two-time MLS Golden Boot winner Jeff Cunningham, USA 1994 World Cup star Roy Wegerle, and 2013 MLS Cup winner Dom Dwyer.
The Bulls have advanced to the postseason in 18 of the past 20 years, including 12 NCAA Tournament appearances during that period.
USF Soccer concluded the 2020 season with four players earning AAC honors, highlighted by first first-team selection Josue Monge and Salvatore Mazzaferro who was tabbed a second-team selection. Also, Oscar Resano and Brian Schaefer were named to the American Athletic Conference All-Rookie Team. Head coach Bob Butehorn returns to lead USF in his fifth season on the sidelines.
–#GoBulls –
