University of South Florida
Harvard
Boggs Blasts Bulls Into the Sweet 16
November 26, 2008 | Men's Soccer
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TAMPA ? The heroes keep changing, but the scripts seem awfully familiar for the USF men's soccer team.
On Tuesday night, Zak Boggs scored a pair of goals to power USF to a 2-1 win over Harvard in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
“Each game, people have to step up,” said Boggs. “I'm glad I could do it today.”
It is the third time in the last four games that a USF player has scored two goals. In the BIG EAST quarterfinals against Georgetown it was Jordan Seabrook with a pair of scores and in the BIG EAST semifinals against Notre Dame it was Francisco Aristeguieta.
“You got multiple guys with multiple goals,” said USF head coach George Kiefer. “With that result you can tell it's a real team effort. One of Zak's best qualities is scoring goals and he took his two chances well tonight.”
USF advances to the Sweet 16 where it will host UNC-Greensboro on Saturday, Nov. 29, at 7:30 p.m.
Greensboro advanced thanks to a 2-1 overtime road upset of No. 9-national seed Loyola.
“UNC-Greensboro is a big game and we are going to prepare for it as any other game,” said Boggs. “We are not going to take anything lightly.”
The Bulls improved to 10-0-1 at the USF Soccer Stadium this season and have allowed only four goals on their home pitch.
Boggs put USF ahead at the 4:08 mark of the first half on a perfectly lofted advance from Jason Devenish. Devenish put it high for Boggs, who headed it past Harvard freshman goal keeper Austin Harms.
In the 34th minute senior defender Yohance Marshall had two great stops to lead the Bulls on the defensive end. One shot was a one-on-one which did not allow Harvard a great scoring opportunity.
Harvard would answer and tie the game at 23:44 in the opening session. John Stamatis put a knuckle ball that deflected off a USF defender and put the ball out of the far reach of Bulls goalkeeper Jeff Attinella.
The game would stay knotted at one until the 63:30 mark when Boggs buried a deflection into the back of the net. Sebastien Thuriere set up the goal with the straight on blast at Harms, who didn't control it and left an easy opportunity for Boggs.
It was the first time in Boggs' USF career that he has scored two goals in a game. It increased his season total to five.
It marks the second consecutive season that USF has reached the Sweet 16. Last year, USF traveled to UConn and lost in the round of 16.
For the complete USF schedule, visit GoUSFBulls.com. Individual tickets can be purchased at the gates starting one hour prior to each home game. Group tickets can be purchased through 1-800-GoBulls.
