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| Top Performers |
| Player |
|
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| West Virginia - Abel Pittman |
0
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0
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3
|
1
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| USF - Andre Mittoo |
1
|
0
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1
|
1
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TAMPA - On a day that saw the greats of the University of South Florida men's soccer program return to the USF Soccer Stadium for its annual alumni day, the current version of the Bulls' men's soccer program displayed some greatness of their own as they defeated West Virginia, 1-0, in a thriller Saturday night.
The win extends USF's unbeaten streak to six games, and is the second straight win for the Bulls.
Andre Mittoo scored the matches only goal on a spectacular play that saw the senior forward from Plantation, Fla. take a pass from Marius Krathe and Shawn Chin, split two converging defenders, keep control of the ball deep into the 18-yard box on the right far side and bury the shot on the low far corner of the goal in the 67th minute of play. The goal would be Mittoo's second of the season. (Video: Watch the game-winning goal by clicking here.)
Senior All-American goalkeeper Jeff Attinella, who tied a new school record for consecutive shutouts with six - joining former Bull Jeff Gopsill - iced the game with a highlight reel play of his own sprawling vertically and extending far to his left for his third and final save of the night, securing the win.
In addition to the Bulls' unbeaten streak, Attinella also extended his stretch of not having a goal scored on him to 590 consecutive minutes. His clean sheet tonight against the Mountaineers is his 10th of the season and the 28th of his career.
Both teams established the fact early on that the contest was going to be a defensive struggle as both teams only got off a combined 12 shots in the first 45 minute of play.
The offensive play however would pick up somewhat in the second half as USF's Leston Paul put a low liner on goal that was saved by West Virginia keeper Zach Johnson just eight minutes into the final stanza.
Bernardo Anor would then get a crack at getting the Bulls on the board on a header that would go just wide in the 60th minute.
There was no doubt thought that USF was seeing the momentum shift in its favor as Mittoo would strike just six minutes after Anor's attempt.
The Bulls would then ratchet up its stifling defense for the remainder of the contest allowing the Mountaineers just three shots in the final 33 minutes of the match, two of which would be saved by Attinella en route to the win.
USF improves its record to 8-2-3 (3-1-1 BIG EAST) while West Virginia drops to 7-4-2 (3-2-0 BIG EAST) on the year.
The Bulls head back on the road as they travel to Cincinnati for a 7 p.m. match on Oct. 20. USF will return home for the first of two consecutive home matches against Louisville on Oct. 23 (7:30 p.m.) and Rutgers on Oct. 27 (7:30 p.m.) for what will be the final regular season home match of the year. The Bulls will close out the regular season on Oct. 30 at St. John's (7:30 p.m.).