TAMPA, Fla. ? Goals by sophomore Francisco Aristeguieta and freshman Bernardo Anor catapulted the No. 10 University of South Florida men's soccer team to its sixth win of the year and first in the BIG EAST, as the team set down Providence College 3-1 Sunday afternoon.
Looking to rebound from Friday night's 2-1 heartbreaker against No. 2 UConn, the Bulls (6-1-0, 1-1-0) were on the board right away against a Friars squad that entered the contest with a 4-2-0 overall record.
After a free kick in the second minute by USF was deflected by a Providence defender, Aristeguieta settled the ball and weaved his way to the center-top of the box where he uncorked a rocket that broke through Friars keeper Timothy Murray's grip as he fell to his left to make the save. The goal was the first of the Caracas, Venezuela, natives career as the Bulls went up 1-0.
The Bulls were able to control the ball for most of the first half inside Friars territory, as Providence had trouble controlling the ball and making clean passes.
Anor earned his fourth goal of the season, and ninth point in the past three games, in the 13th minute following a free kick from the left side by senior Simon Schoendorf. Anor and junior Joris Claessens crashed the box as Schoendorf's lob bounced perfectly in front of the net for Anor to go up and easily head it in.
The assists went to both Schoendorf and Claessens, earning Schoendorf his fourth of the year and Claessens the first ever of the Orlando native's three-year career.
“I thought we started off well with the two goal lead,” said head coach George Kiefer. “It's not easy to turn around and play conference games so close together like this. It's a tricky format and I was happy with the way the players gutted it out.”
The Bulls held the 2-0 lead into halftime and re-took the field to strong winds and rain.
Just four minutes into the second frame, Providence cut the lead in half when midfielder Justin Kahle crossed the ball to forward Jonathan Medcalf who was able to beat Bulls keeper Diego Restrepo with a shot to the back of the net.
Five minutes later, the match was suspended for 30 minutes due to lightning in the area.
Following the restart under clearer skies, but still some light rain, USF was able to stifle several advances by Providence and keep the one goal advantage.
The clinching goal came as time expired in the 90th minute. Aristeguieta fired a ball on the right side that junior forward Jordan Seabrook raced after. With no defenders back, Murray left his spot in goal and charged out to try and knock the 50-50 ball away before Seabrook could reach it, but just missed. Seabrook flipped the ball past Murray at the last second and was able to coast up to the crossbars unattested for the empty-netter, his fourth goal of the year and second of the weekend.
Seabrook now takes the team lead in points, with 13 for the season.
The Bulls as a team earned their first points of the year in conference play as they even their record to 1-1. USF will face its third Blue Division opponent in a row next Fri., Sept. 28 when it travels to Pittsburgh to face off with the Panthers at 4 p.m. USF owns a 1-0-1 lead in the short all-time series, begun in 2005.
