University of South Florida
Indiana
Crowd Rocks, Bulls Roll in Home Opener
August 27, 2011 | Women's Soccer
By TOM ZEBOLD TAMPA – A packed house proved to be a huge perk for the USF women's soccer team in its home opener Friday night. A crowd of 1,167 – the second-highest home mark in USF women's soccer history - watched the Bulls outscore Indiana, 2-1, for both their first win of the season and first at the new on-campus stadium. “We wanted to create the scenario where our fans were right here and part of the action and we think that we've done that,” USF Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Doug Woolard said. “We feel by what we've created, it's going to give our team certainly an advantage because of all of you.” Woolard's statement proved to be correct. “It's great when you can't even hear yourself think because they're yelling so much. You know it's affecting the other team, it's great,” said senior forward Chelsea Klotz, who scored the game-winning goal in the 49th minute of play. The Bulls got their fans going early, too. Sophomore forward Demi Stokes took a pass from Rehana Murani and put USF ahead only 4 minutes, 18 seconds into the game. “We had to come out with a bang because every team that comes here, they're going to come out fighting,” Stokes said. Indiana fought back with an unassisted goal about five minutes later when Lisa Nouanesengsy beat USF keeper Nicole McClure. Fans had to wait about 40 minutes to see which team could grab the advantage. That's when Klotz marched down the right side of the field, beat a defender and scored her second goal in two games this season. USF head coach Denise Schilte-Brown was pleased with how her team kept its composure with many eyes focused on them. “I was really proud of the girls because it's hard to stay focused when you have this much attention and excitement and you haven't had it that consistently,” she said. “…It was a tall order in this excitement and they did a good job.” USF looks to stay hot at the new stadium Sunday when it faces Alabama A&M at 1 p.m. NOTE: The largest home crowd in USF women's soccer history was a total of 1,217 fans who watched the Bulls play Stetson on Sept. 11, 2008.
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