By SEAN BAROWS

GoUSFBulls.com

TAMPA – The championship trophy for the inaugural American Athletic Conference Men's Soccer Tournament is coming home with the Bulls to Tampa.  

Senior goalkeeper Brentton Muhammad stopped three straight UConn penalty kicks to give the Bulls their first-ever American championship and first conference title since 2008.

“I think that adds a little something to it that it's the first ever (AAC Championship), but I'm really proud of the players doing what they did this weekend,” head coach Kiefer said.

With the win, USF (8-3-9) receives and automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, which will mark their seventh straight appearance under Kiefer.

“This year is super special and obviously this team has battled through some real adversity this season,” Kiefer stated. “As coaches and as players we all felt like we were playing well enough to win games so we didn't get after each other, we stayed positive with one another and I think it's a real life lesson for them.”

After 110 minutes of scoreless soccer the Bulls converted on six of nine penalty kicks to advance past the No. 11 Huskies (11-2-6) in an instant classic at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas.

The Bulls were outshot by the Huskies, 13-7, for the match and relied on solid defense and incredible goalkeeping by Muhammad to force the game to penalty kicks. Muhammad made 10 saves through regulation and overtime before making four massive stops in the penalty shootout.

Muhammad outperformed the American Goalkeeper of the Year in UConn's Andre Blake en route to his eighth shutout of the season and his fourth in five games.

With UConn being one of the top defensive teams in the nation, quality chances were tough to come by for USF throughout the game. However, as the match wore on they were able to generate a couple of opportunities, especially late in regulation.

“My assistants do a really good job of breaking down other teams and I thought tactically the guys followed the assistants' game plan perfectly today and we did a good job of taking away their strengths,” Kiefer said.

Senior forward Stiven Salinas nearly put the Bulls on top with less than a minute remaining but had his shot blocked by a Huskies' defender at the last second.

Neither team was able to generate many opportunities throughout the two overtime periods as fatigue started to set in for both sides.

With neither team able to snatch the golden goal in overtime the game headed to penalty kicks where Muhammad would stamp his legacy into USF history.

“I just trusted my technique and the advice the coaches have given me, and also our players that were taking penalties. I knew that they were going to score some, so I just needed to try and get on the end of a few penalties to give us a chance,” Muhammad said on his thoughts going into the penalty shootout.

After a successful penalty kick by senior Ben Sweat to start things off, Muhammad made a huge save on the Huskies' first attempt, getting his finger tips to the ball to force it off the right post.

Both teams would make their next three attempts, setting up a possible game winner for junior Edwin Moalosi in the fifth round. Unfortunately, Blake made a great save to keep UConn alive and send it to a sixth round of kicks.

After two straight saves by both keepers, freshman Duane Muckette was finally able to put one past Blake in the ninth round, setting up a chance to win it with another Muhammad save. And he would do just that with a diving stop to his left on the Huskies' final attempt by freshman midfielder Kwame Awuah.

“It wasn't just three saves in a row, it was three in a row where he had to make the save or we were cooked, we were done,” Kiefer said regarding Muhammad's big saves.

This marks the third straight season that the Bulls have won a postseason game in penalty kicks after defeating FGCU in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last year and advancing past New Mexico to go to the Elite Eight in 2011.

“Our team has been through a lot this season with the amount of ties we've had and a lot of people have been writing us off but we've got a lot of leaders on this team that keep us in the right direction,” Muhammad stated. “Everyone was just so happy and relieved to get that automatic berth for the NCAAs.”

USF will now wait and see who they draw in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday, Nov. 21. The men's soccer selection show is set to begin tomorrow at noon and can be seen live on NCAA.com.

Five Bulls were named to the American Athletic Conference All-Tournament Team while Moalosi was voted Offensive MVP and Muhammad was tabbed Defensive MVP. The entire all-tournament team is listed below.

For the most up-to-date information on USF men's soccer stay locked to GoUSFBulls.com and follow the team on Twitter @USFMSoccer.

American Athletic Conference Championship Awards

Most Outstanding Offensive Player

Edwin Moalosi, USF

Most Outstanding Defensive Player

Brenton Muhammad, USF

American Athletic Conference All-Tournament Team

Omar Vallejo, UCF, MF

Adria Beso, UConn, MF

Andre Blake, UConn, GK

Sergio Campbell, UConn, D

Cyle Larin, UConn, F

David Greczek, Rutgers, GK

Samuel Hosseini, USF, MF

Edwin Moalosi, USF, F

Brentton Muhammad, USF, GK

Duane Muckette, USF, MF

Stiven Salinas, USF, F