TAMPA - If you looked at the stat sheets coming into tonight's BIG EAST Conference men's soccer game between the University of South Florida and Cincinnati, you knew one thing was for sure ... that something was going to give. Tonight's match pitted one of the highest octane offenses in the league in the Bearcats who were tops in the BIG EAST - coming into this weekend - in shots, points and goals. On the other hand, USF is one of the conferences stingiest defenses giving up the third fewest goals allowed and were also third in goals against average.
Well, like they had done six other times this season prior to tonight, the Bulls took that defense and made the phrase "the best defense is a good offense" a reality handing Cincinnati a 2-0 loss in front of 1,002 fans at the USF Soccer Stadium.
The Bulls improve their record to 7-1-1 (3-1-1 BIG EAST) while Cincinnati drops to 7-4-0 (2-3-0 BIG EAST).
In addition, USF - ranked No. 6 in last week's National Soccer Association of America, and No. 7 in Soccer America's Top 25 polls - extends its home unbeaten streak to 23 games (20-0-3) dating back to Sept. 23, 2007.
In the first half the Bulls got off 12 shots, including five on goal, while holding the Bearcats to just three shots on net.
USF tried to get to Cincinnati's goalkeeper, Matt Williams, early in the game recording all five shots on goal in the first 23 minutes of the match.
Bernardo Anor would get his first chance of the night on the far right wing just under five minutes into the match, and then Hasani Sinclair would fire a shot in from the top of the box - in the eighth minute - only to have Williams make the saves.
The Bulls would get their first big opportunity of the night, in the 18th minute, when Zak Boggs took a pass from Anor and tried to beat Williams from straight on and less than 15 yards out. Williams came out to play the ball and made a sliding kick save to keep the game scoreless.
Although it would only get two other shots on goal the rest of the of the half, they did keep Williams on his toes in the final 20 minutes of the first stanza putting shots just high and just wide of the post's.
Cincinnati came out in the second half and, like the Bulls in the beginning of the first 45 minutes, tried to dictate the tempo of the game. The Bearcats would get off two of their three shots on goal in the second half in the first three minutes as USF's Jeff Attinella recorded the saves and seemed to be well en route to his fourth shut out of the season.
Ashani Fairclough, however, would squash Cincinnati's momentum getting the Bulls on the board first with his first career collegiate goal. Fairclough would take a cross to the back post from Javed Mohammed, in the 51st minute, and send a header into the back of the net making the score 1-0.
Despite the Bulls pretty much in control of the game, the Bearcats had a huge opportunity to change the complexion of the match and to take that momentum back that they tried to establish in the beginning of the second half.
Cincinnati would be awarded a corner kick in the 82nd minute, and as USF attempted to clear the ball it would be called for a hand ball which resulted in a penalty kick. The Bearcats Judson McKinney would take the attempt and fire a shot towards the lower left corner of the goal only to have Attinella fully extend himself to stop what would have been a sure game tying score.
Attinella's save would pay dividends as the Bulls came back less than a minute later and turned what would have been a 1-1 game without Attinella's save into a 2-0 contest in the 83rd minute. Anor would score his team-high fourth goal of the season on a shot from inside the box off assists from Mohammed - his second of the game - and Jorge Mora to put the game out of reach.
On the night, Attinella would record seven saves and would eventually get that fourth shutout. The Bulls would outshoot the Bearcats 24-12 at the end of the game and had a slight advantage in corner kicks, 7-6.
The Bulls will get back to work on Wednesday, Oct. 7 at 7 p.m., when they travel to the "Bluegrass State" to face No. 17/20 Louisville in a Top 25 showdown. USF will return home, to the USF Soccer Stadium, on Saturday, Oct. 10 at 7:30 p.m. to take on St. John's in a rematch of the 2008 BIG EAST Conference Tournament championship game.
Season tickets for USF men's soccer games are $40 for adults and $20 for youths and senior citizens. Adult individual match tickets are $6, while youth and senior citizen admission is $3. All groups of 10 or more can purchase tickets for $2.50 per ticket. All USF students will be admitted at no cost when they display their student ID.
