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By Tom Zebold
Senior Writer
TAMPA – USF put on a good show for national television, but came up
on the short end against first-place Louisville on Wednesday night.
Ryan Smith scored the go-ahead goal in the 82nd
minute of the Cardinals' 2-1 victory over the Bulls before a crowd of 1,476 at
Corbett Soccer Stadium with ESPNU cameras capturing the action.
“We played well as far as ball movement, creating chances
and pinning them in on their end. Give Louisville credit, I thought later in
the game they showed better signs than we did,” USF head coach George Kiefer
said.
The No. 21 Cardinals (9-4-1, 5-1-0) got the scoring going in
the 25th minute when Andrew Farrell found the net for the third time
this season. USF (7-4-4, 1-2-3) answered back less than 8 minutes later when
Roberto Alterio scored his team-leading fourth goal of the year off assists by
Kevin Olali and Leston Paul after they were honored on senior night.
“I felt good going into the locker room,” said Kiefer
despite USF battling injuries. “The energy was good coming back out, but I feel
like we wore down, and that's just our situation and what we're dealing with.”
USF wound up outshooting Louisville, 10-9, but the final
shot that mattered belonged to Smith, who followed a rebound inside the box for
his fourth goal of the season. The Bulls came close to tying it up in the final
minutes with a header by senior Brenton Griffiths that rocketed a few feet
above the net.
Other seniors honored during USF's final regular season home
game were Ashani Fairclough, Kyle Nicholls,
Stiven Salinas and Sebastien Thuriere.
Points are crucial the rest of the way for a USF team that's
attempting to get into the Big East Tournament. The Bulls begin their two-game
road trip at St. John's on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
“We just have to keep
getting better and focus on that,” Kiefer said. “You don't go to St. John's
focusing on the Big East Tournament. You go to New York, focusing on what St.
John's does well and take that away.”
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