TAMPA, Fla. (August 27, 2006) ? Playing a man down for nearly 60 minutes, the University of South Florida men's soccer team (1-1-0), suffered a 2-1 loss to Fordham (1-0-0) on Sunday, Aug. 27 at the USF Soccer stadium. The loss marked the first of the season for the ninth ranked team in the nation and was the first defeat at home in nearly a year (Sept. 2, 2005).
The Bulls took an early 1-0 lead with Hunter West's first goal of the season in the 25th minute. Freshman Anthony Wallace slotted a pass to junior Kris Raad at midfield. The Bulls' midfielder then turned to find a streaking West down the middle of the field. West got by the Fordham defense and drove a shot past goalkeeper Justin Burse. Both Raad and Wallace were credited with assists on the score.
The match took a turn in Fordham's favor when sophomore defender Yohance Marshall was sent off after receiving a red card in the 32nd minute, causing the Bulls to play a man down for the rest of the contest.
The Rams took advantage of the red card, tying the game up in the 39th minute. Patrick McNamee registered his first goal of the season, beating USF goalkeeper Dane Brenner to his right. A turnover in the Bulls' third of the field set up the score as sophomore Grant Kerr found McNamee at the edge of the 18-yard box. Kerr notched his first assist of the season on the score.
Both teams went into halftime tied with game tied at 1-all. The Bulls held a slight edge in the shots differential, leading the Rams 7-5 through the first 45 minutes.
Despite keeping much of the possession and out-shooting Fordham in the second half, 12-4, USF fell behind after the Rams were awarded a penalty kick in the 59th minute. Fordham's Kevin Meyer converted the PK to give the Rams a 2-1 edge. Even though the Bulls trailed and were playing a man down, USF continued to battle, pushing forward and creating scoring opportunities. USF forced Burse to make six saves on the evening, keeping much of the match's attack in the Ram's third of the field.
Burse's night was cut short when the Fordham ?keeper suffered a leg injury in the 75th minute and had to be taken off the field on a stretcher. Doug Deveraux played the final 15 minutes for Fordham.
On the night USF out-shot Fordham 19-9 and held the Rams to just five shots on goal. The match saw a total of 45 fouls (27 for Fordham; 18 for USF), producing six cards, including Marshall's red.
The loss marked the first at home for the Bulls in its last 10 games. It also marked the first-ever loss to Fordham, moving the all-time series history to 2-1-0 in favor of USF.
USF will next ravel to Durham, N.C., to take part in the Duke/adidas Classic starting Friday, Sept. 1. The Bulls will face N.C. State at 5 p.m. on Friday and will then face host-institution Duke on Sunday Sept. 3 at 7:30 p.m.
No. 9 USF Bulls vs. Fordham Rams
August 27, 2006 ? USF Soccer Stadium
1 2 F
Fordham 1 1 2
USF 1 0 1
Scoring Summary: USF ? West 1 (Raad 1, Wallace 1), 25'; FOR ? McNamee 1 (Kerr 1), 39'; FOR ? Meyer 1 (penalty kick).
USF Bulls ? GK Dane Brenner, D Yohance Marshall, D Blake Sharpe, D Kareem Smith, D Joris Claessens, MF Jason Devenish, MF, Kris Raad, MF Kevon Neaves, MF Anthony Wallace, F Jordan Seabrook, F Hunter West.
Substitutes: Rodrigo Hidalgo, Joey Brown, Simon Schoendorf, Ogi Perucica, Marc Doherty.
TOTAL SHOTS: 19 (West 4); SHOTS ON GOAL: 9 (West 3); FOULS: 18; OFFSIDES: 1; CORNER KICKS: 7; SAVE: Brenner 3.
Fordham Rams ? GK Justin Burse, D Salim Lewis, D Stephen Franchini, D Einar Oddsson, D John Pardini, MF Sam Acheampong, MF Grant Kerr, MF Kevin Meyer, F Omero Rozen, F Chris Paolino, F 20 Dean Stanic.
Substitutes: Peter Kasyanenko, Patrick McNamee, Stephen Woicik, Ryan Brown, Alex Brunbauer, Doug Deveraux.
TOTAL SHOTS: 9 (Meyer 3); SHOTS ON GOAL: 5 (Meyer 2); FOULS: 27; OFFSIDES: 1; CORNER KICKS: 1; SAVES: 8 (Burse 6, Deveraux 1, Team 1).
Cautions and Ejections: USF ? Devenish (caution), 30'; USF ? Marshall (ejection), 32'; FOR ? Meyer (caution), 32'; FOR ? Brown (caution), 40'; USF ? Hidalgo (caution), 49'; FOR ? Brunbauer (caution), 64'.
Referee: Shane Barrett
Assistant Referees: Ted Unkel, Johnathan Dawe
4th Official: Goree Fleck
Weather: 81 degrees, humid, cloudy.
