Brian Schaefer records his first goal of 2022, Marcus Victorio the first of his career in the win.
TAMPA (Sept. 24, 2022) – The University of South Florida men’s soccer team returned to Corbett Stadium for its American Athletic Conference home opener on Saturday against Temple and closed out the night with a big 2-1 conference win to stay unbeaten after two league matches.
The victory improves the Bulls to 2-3-2 overall and 1-0-1 in The American while Temple falls to 2-4-2 on the year and 0-2-0 in the conference.
South Florida took advantage of a pair of first-half yellow cards on the Owls Draven Barnett – the second in the 30’ minute – that resulted in a red card leading to the Bulls playing a man up the remainder of the match. South Florida played the aggressor all night outshooting Temple 19-6, including a 6-3 margin in shots on goal.
After Temple scored in the 21’ of the match to take a 1-0 lead, the Green and Gold started to chip away at the Owls after the red card was issued, despite trailing at the break.
South Florida came out of the locker room after the intermission and looked to get on the board quickly. Lovro Kostanjsek took a header off a corner kick and sent it past Temple’s goalkeeper, Micah Ramirez, who recovered and saved the ball from crossing the line at the last second in the 47’. Minutes later, Salvatore Mazzaferro took the ball out of the air and attempted to put a one-timer on goal from 15 yards out. The offering was on target but blocked.
The Bulls finally wore down the Owls, and Brian Schaefer took advantage beating Ramirez in the 69’ on a header off a corner kick from Gabrielle Privitera to even the game at one-all on his first goal of the season. Then five minutes later, Marcus Victorio found the back of the net for his first goal of the year, a goal that deflected off Ramirez and in in the 74’ for the game-winner. Once again, the assist was credited to Privitera. The goal was Victorio’s first of his career with the Bulls.
On the night Ajmeer Spengler led the team in shots with a match-high four, while Kostanjsek and Oscar Resano each had three.
Jackson Weyman had two saves in net for the Bulls in the win.
Scoring Summary
TU – Sean Karani (Sawyer Koza; 20:46)
USF – Brian Schaefer (Gabrielle Privitera; 68:33)
USF – Marcus Victorio (Gabrielle Privitera; 74:08)
1 2 F
USF 0 2 2
Temple 1 0 1
Shots: USF 19, TU 6
Shots on Goal: USF 6, TU 3
Saves: USF 2, TU 4
Corner Kicks: USF 9, TU 1
Fouls: USF 16, TU 14
Notable
- South Florida’s win over Temple improves its record over the Owls to 9-3-1 all-time and 5-1 in matches played in Tampa … The Bulls have won four straight in the series.
- In addition to Weyman, Mazzaferro and Schaefer also played a complete 90 minutes.
- The Bulls have outshot their opposition for the fifth time in seven matches, and the third-straight match, and held the advantage in shots on goal for the fourth time in seven outings.
Up Next
South Florida hits the road for the first of two-straight American Athletic Conference matches, beginning on Sept. 30 at No. 12/10 Charlotte. Kick-off is slated for 7 p.m. The Bulls will close out the two-match stretch at UAB on Oct. 5 at 8 p.m. ET, before returning to Corbet Stadium on Oct. 9 at 7 p.m. to face Tulsa.
Fans can purchase tickets by calling 1-800-GoBulls or at Ticketmaster.
All home matches this season will be broadcast live on USF Bulls Unlimited, with Darek Sharp on the call. Bulls Unlimited is available via the free Tune In app (search “Bulls Unlimited”) and provides static-free quality whether you’re listening on your streaming device, laptop or desktop.
In addition to Bulls Unlimited, all of South Florida’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.
The University of South Florida men’s soccer team was well represented on the AAC postseason All-Conference Team in 2021 with four players earning honors. Highlighting the Bulls’ honorees was the American Athletic Conference Co-Goalkeeper of the Year, Kazuna Takase, along with first-team selection Shion Soga. In addition, Takase was also selected to the All-Conference Second Team along with Salvatore Mazzaferro, and Josh Gomina was named to the AAC All-Rookie Team.
–#GoBulls –
