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| Top Performers |
| Player |
|
|
|
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| Akron - An. Ampaipitakwong |
2
|
0
|
3
|
3
|
| USF - Andre Mittoo |
0
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
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TAMPA - The University of South Florida men's soccer team knew heading into today's NCAA Tournament second round game at No. 1 and top-seed Akron, that it would have its hands full. After all, the Zips came into the match with a 20-0-0 record, the fourth longest single season win streak in NCAA history.
In addition, Akron is also looking to become the first team in 35 years to win a national championship with a perfect record, and one of seven all-time.
Well, the Bulls saw just how dominating the Zips can be, and how tough they are going to be to beat in their quest for the NCAA title, as they handed USF a 2-0 loss at Lee Jackson Field in front of a record crowd of 2,700.
"We came up against a very good team at their place," said USF head coach George Kiefer. "I thought that they (Akron) did a very good job taking care of their chances, and I give them a lot of credit. They are a very tough team to play against at home."
The Zips (21-0-0), the tournament's top-seed, got all the scoring they needed during an eight minute stretch in the first half when Anthony Ampaipitakwong connected on a free kick in the 24th minute and a shot in the 32nd minute.
Akron totally controlled the pace of the game outshooting the Bulls (14-4-3) 14-1 on the afternoon.
"I thought that we had some stuff that went wide and a couple of decent chances off restarts," said Kiefer. "But they are a very good team in terms of when they lose it to jump back and win the ball back."
After the first shot of the game by the Zips' Teal Burnbury, just fewer than five minutes into the game, went wide, USF's Andre Mittoo would get a good look and fired a shot that was saved by Akron goalkeeper David Meves in the sixth minute.
That would be the only shot that the Bulls would have on the afternoon.
The Zips would get on the board in the 24th minute when Ampaipitakwong connected on the game winner. Mittoo would be called for a foul on Ampaipitakwong attempting to play the ball at the top of the 18 box. Ampaipitakwong lined up his free kick and bent it around the wall and into the back of the net on the left side, giving Akron a 1-0 lead.
Ampaipitakwong would then give the Zips a cushion when he shot a laser from 24 yards out beating USF goalkeeper Jeff Attinella.
Akron would come out in the second half and continue its control outshooting the Bulls 7-0 in the final 45 minutes en route to the win.
In addition to their advantage over USF in shots, the Zips had seven corner kicks to the Bulls' one on the afternoon.
Despite its disappointing loss today, USF's win total (14) is tied for the fifth most in school history joining the 1980, 19997, and 2007 team's that also posted 14 wins in a season.
Bulls' head coach George Kiefer also continues to be one of the top coaches in all of college soccer. He finished his eighth season at USF with a 93-47-19 career coaching record, including a 65-27-14 record over the last five years and four NCAA Tournament appearances.
"I'm very happy for the senior class with the way the season went," said Kiefer. "A lot of people had written us off this year and had us rebuilding. Anytime you lose four, four-years starters, it is going to take a little bit of time. But I thought the leadership of the team helped it to gel. I don't think that our guys need to hang their heads at all. We lost to a very good team today. If you take anything, you look back at maybe squeaking out one of those ties, or getting one or two more wins, you would probably still be playing at home right now. You learn from that and realize that everything starts in August, and everything matters. But, I really give this class credit though. This senior class has been to three NCAA Tournaments - a Sweet 16, and Elite Eight, and a second round - and I think that they have dome some very good things for the University and I am extremely proud of that."
