By SEAN BAROWS

GoUSFBulls.com

TAMPA – After a great season the Bulls' postseason run came to an end with a 1-0 loss to North Carolina in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday night in Chapel Hill, N.C.

Freshman midfielder Omar Holness tallied the game's only goal in the third minute off of a corner kick, and the Tar Heels held on the rest of the way to advance to the second round where they'll travel to California to face No. 12 overall seed UC Irvine.

“I think going down early… both teams, let's face it, have had trouble scoring goals this year in Chapel Hill and South Florida, so to give them the early goal, I felt that fed their energy,” head coach George Kiefer said.

North Carolina (9-5-5) boasted one of the top defenses in the nation this season, leading the ACC with nine shutouts, and it was on full display Thursday night as they held USF (8-4-9) to five shots and only two on goal.

Senior forward Stiven Salinas was the only USF player to register multiple shots on the night and the Bulls were never really able to threaten UNC goalkeeper Brendan Moore.

USF also came into the match with one of the country's top defenses, ranking 17^th in the nation with a 0.68 goals against average. Coming into the match the Bulls had allowed only two goals in their six-game unbeaten streak, posting four shutouts during that span.

Senior goalkeeper Brentton Muhammad made six saves in the game, including a couple point blank stops in the second half to keep the Bulls' deficit at one.

Despite the loss, USF recorded another stellar season, making their seventh straight trip to the NCAA Tournament and 18^th appearance overall, which ranks 20^th all-time in Division I.

“Obviously we're disappointed that the season has ended, but I told my guys at the end, I'll be able to take a lot of the experiences from this year's team,” Kiefer said.

The Bulls also won the inaugural American Athletic Conference Championship earlier this season after defeating UConn in penalty kicks, bringing home the program's first conference title since 2008.

USF graduates seven seniors from this year's team but will return six starters and a host of other young players that saw significant playing time this season.

“With the amount of ties we had, with the amount of adversity we had faced, to be able to keep things together, keep working, keep staying positive with one another, I felt like it was a great season from that regard.”