Jonathan Rosales nets his second goal of the season in the 81st minute
TAMPA (Sept. 24, 2019) – In front of a record crowd of 1,612, the USF men’s soccer team sent the North Florida faithful home disappointed as the Bulls handed the Ospreys a 1-0 loss on Tuesday night at Hodges Stadium in Jacksonville. The win improves USF to 4-2 on the year while UNF drops to 2-3-1.
Jonathan Rosales (Kissimmee, Fla.) tallied the game winner in the 81st minute on a header off a corner kick from Avionne Flanagan (Baltimore, Md.) beating the Ospreys keeper, Padraic Gilley, to the low left corner. The corner kick was set up when Henrique Gallina (Atibaia, Brazil) nearly beat Gilley seconds before, however the netminder sent the ball behind the goal with one of his three saves. The score came on Rosales’ lone shot of the night.
The match proved to be a defensive struggle with both teams combining for just 15 shots, with only six of the 15 coming in the first half – three to each team. The Bulls, however, held the upper hand in the second stanza outshooting North Florida, 7-2. Nine minutes before the Rosales goal, Adrian Billhardt (Berlin, Germany) gave USF its best scoring chance with a shot from five yards out only to have Gilley punch aside the offering on a diving save.
Harrison Devenish-Meares (Sydney, Australia) recorded two saves on the night for his second shutout of the season and the fifth of his career.
Quotable
“I go way back with that program. Obviously they are in the conference (Atlantic Sun Conference) that I used to be in and we had a lot of good battles, and I know that it was a big game for them. It was a very tough game and North Florida made it very difficult to play; it was a very physical game and I think that our guys responded really well. I think that we did a really good job of creating a chance or two and created enough chances where we finally got one. But it was a tough game no doubt.” – USF head coach Bob Butehorn on the Bulls win over North Florida.
Scoring Summary
USF – Jonathan Rosales (Avionne Flanagan; 80:47)
1 2 F
USF 0 1 1
North Florida 0 0 0
Shots: USF 10, North Florida 5
Shots on Goal: USF 4, North Florida 2
Saves: USF 2, North Florida 3
Corner Kicks: USF 6, North Florida 5
Fouls: USF 14, North Florida 20
Key Stat
7 – After recording just three shots in the first half USF picked up the offensive intensity and logged seven in the second stanza with three of them posing serious threats to the UNF goalkeeper, including the game winner. The Bulls would finish with 10 shots on the night.
Notable
- The Hodges Stadium record crowd of 1,612 surpassed the previous mark of 1,609 set against USC Upstate in the Atlantic Sun championship match in 2015.
- A win over North Florida marks the Bulls’ first 4-2 start since the 2006 season.
- USF improves its record in the all-time series against North Florida to 4-0 … The Bulls hold a commanding 9-1 goals scored advantage over UNF.
- Tuesday’s match was the first against UNF played in Jacksonville.
- Adrian Billhardt led the Bulls with four shots on the night, including two – of USF’s four – coming on frame.
Up Next
The Bulls will return to Corbett Stadium on Sept. 27, at 7 p.m. for their American Athletic Conference opener against UConn. The match with the Huskies marks the first of two-straight tilts at home for the Bulls. USF will also face Florida Gulf Coast at Corbett Stadium on October 1 at 7 p.m.
To purchase tickets for USF men’s soccer, or to purchase an Olympic Gold Pass which provides entry to all men’s soccer, women’s soccer and volleyball home contests in 2019, visit USFBullsTix.com or call 1-800-GO-BULLS.
– #GoBulls –
