TAMPA, Fla. ? In their first home game of the season, the University of South Florida (1-5-1, 0-2-0) women's soccer team dropped a hard-fought battle 1-0 to No. 21 Connecticut (6-2-0, 2-0-0) Friday night at the USF Soccer Stadium.
"We played really well tonight, and I think we have made a huge step forward," said Coach Denise Schilte-Brown. "Even though we didn't get the result we wanted, I think we gained some respect in the BIG EAST with tonight's game."
In the first half the Bulls outshot the nationally-ranked Huskies 6-4, four of which came from junior forward Lindsay Brauer. Brauer used her lightning speed to get behind the Huskies defense, allowing her various angles of attack for the Bulls.
Senior Autumn Browning and freshman Therese Dahlberg-Erikkson each had a shot in the first period as well.
"The ladies accomplished what we asked them to do, which was to fight hard for first and second balls," continued Schilte-Brown. "We looked comfortable attacking and we gained belief in ourselves."
In the second half, UConn came out firing, and in the 47th minute, Meghan Schnur took a one-touch from Lauren Ebert, and placed the ball in the back of the net for UConn's lone goal.
The Bulls struck back, taking six shots throughout the period, but the two on goal were stopped by UConn's keeper Stephanie Labbe.
The Bulls outshot the Huskies 12-11 in the game, the first time USF has outshot their opponent this season.
Five players recorded shots on goal, led by two from Brauer and one apiece from Browning, sophomores Kaneile Thomas and Anna Lea Crowe and freshman Angelique Waller.
Sophomore Mallori Lofton-Malachi made five saves in 90 minutes, allowing one goal.
The Bulls' overall record drops to 1-5-1, 0-2 in the BIG EAST Conference. Three of USF's losses are to nationally ranked opponents, including Florida, Marquette and Connecticut.
The Bulls will play their seventh road game of the season on Sunday when they travel to Rhode Island to take on Providence at noon. The Friars are 1-6-1 with their lone victory coming at home against Hartford (1-0). In its first BIG EAST game, Providence lost to Connecticut 6-0 on Sept. 21 in Rhode Island. USF is 1-0-1 all-time against Providence, as the Bulls beat the Friars 2-0 last season in Florida after tying 0-0 in Rhode Island in 2005.
After the split home and away conference weekend, the Bulls return to the USF Soccer Stadium to host four consecutive BIG EAST conference games at the beginning of October. The first weekend of the month will feature Georgetown (Oct. 5) and Villanova (Oct. 7). The following set will conclude USF's home games for the year when Syracuse (Oct. 12) and St. John's (Oct. 14) come to town.
