University of South Florida
Notre Dame
Bulls in BIG EAST Finals After 2-1 Win Over Notre Dame
November 15, 2008 | Men's Soccer
TAMPA - Junior midfielder Francisco Aristeguieta fired two balls in the back of the net to lead the No. 14/8 University of South Florida Bulls (13-4-2) to a 2-1 victory over Notre Dame Friday night in the semifinals of the BIG EAST Championship.
"It is a big win for us," said USF head coach George Kiefer. “This time of the year you want to learn new things. To be down one-nothing to one of the better teams in the country, then to come back and to win the game in regulation says a lot about us."
The Bulls, who remain undefeated at the USF Soccer Stadium with an 8-0-1 record, will now face St. John's in the BIG EAST Finals Sunday, Nov. 16, at Noon at the USF Soccer Stadium.
Against Notre Dame, Aristeguieta (Caracas, Venezuela) scored his first two goals of the season and it couldn't come at a better time.
"I usually take care of the defensive part, but today I guess I had one shot of luck and I hit it," said Aristeguieta. "We had a great game and we worked really hard. It was a team effort, so we are really happy."
The Fighting Irish took an early lead in the semifinal game as Jeb Brovsky sent the ball to Bright Dike, who put one past USF goalkeeper Jeff Attinella in the 18th minute, giving Notre Dame the 1-0 lead
Moments later, junior Zak Boggs touched the ball to sophomore Javed Mohammed, who put a steaming knuckle ball into the box that clanged off the cross bar, which would have tied the game going into halftime.
The Bulls could not put one past Notre Dame goalkeeper, Philp Tuttle, as they attempted four shots in the first half.
USF, who fell to the Fighting Irish earlier in the year by a score of 5-0, would not back down, though, rallying in the second half by taking four corners and six shots.
"I was impressed with our approach to the second half, especially our work rate and winning the loose balls,” said Kiefer. “I felt like we got a good rhythm going and we got the ball moving on them. I felt pretty good about the game as that started going on."
After a pass from Boggs that split a pair of defenders and left Aristeguieta with just the goalkeeper to beat, the native of Venezuela put it in the corner of the goal in the 68th minute to tie the game at one apiece.
Aristeguieta then scored the game-winning goal in the 81st minute. After the ball deflected off a Notre Dame defender, he dribbled up the middle of the field and fired a shot toward the far post, drilling it into the far corner of the net and sending the crowd into a frenzy.
“Francisco is the guy that a good soccer guy sees, but other people may not see,” said Kiefer. “He does all of the little things.”
The Bulls will move on to the BIG EAST Championship Finals on Sunday against No. 3/5 St. John's. The Red Storm are 16-1-3 overall and finished first in the BIG EAST Red Division with an 8-1-2 record.
Sunday's matchup against the Red Storm will be the second time that USF has played in the BIG EAST Championship Final game, with the only other appearance in 2005.
Tickets to the BIG EAST Championship can be purchased at the gate at 11 a.m. on Sunday. Also, tickets purchased from the USF vs Rutgers football or any game from the USF women's basketball Shootout Tournament can be used as free admission into the men's soccer game. Please show your stub at the game to receive free admission
Game Notes
USF's two goals marks just the fourth time this season that Notre Dame has allowed more than one goal. All three other occasions they allowed three goals and lost.
Tonight is the second-consecutive game that USF has had a player score a pair of goals. Jordan Seabrook punched in a pair in the quarterfinals against Georgetown.
USF had 1,658 in attendance against Notre Dame, which is in the top five in USF history.
