Bulls Welcome Houston, SMU for Weekend Homestand
October 02, 2014 | Women's Soccer
WHO: USF vs. Houston/SMU
WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Friday / Noon Sunday
WHERE: Corbett Stadium
LIVE STREAM: Bullscast
LIVE STATS: GoUSFBulls.com
TAMPA (Oct. 2, 2014) – After a weekend away from home, the USF women's soccer team is looking to bounce back and capture its first conference win as the Bulls host Houston and SMU.
USF opened conference play on the road at Tulsa last Thursday. The Bulls took a 2-1 lead in the second half and looked as though they would walk away with the win. However, a late game-tying goal was scored, forcing overtime. USF ultimately fell, 3-2, in double overtime.
On Sunday, the Bulls headed to Memphis looking for their first conference win. The game was in a scoreless deadlock until late in the second half when Memphis took a 1-0 lead. USF could not find the equalizer and the Bulls fell to 0-2 in conference play.
The Bulls will host Houston on Friday, Oct. 3, at 7:30 p.m. with SMU coming to town for a noon matchup on Sunday, Oct. 5.
SCOUTING HOUTSON
First up on this weekend's slate is the Houston Cougars. Houston enters the match with a 1-3-4 record, including a 0-1-0 record in conference play. The Cougars fell to AAC member SMU, 3-2, on Sunday afternoon.
Houston returns seven starters from a team that went 1-12-3 last season. Like the Bulls, the Cougars will also be looking for their first conference win this season.
ALL-TIME SERIES
USF currently leads with a 5-4-0 advantage. The Bulls and Cougars first met in 1999 and had their most recent meeting in 2013, when USF rallied back from a 3-1 deficit to win the match 6-3.
SCOUTING SMU
The Bulls will get SMU in Tampa on Sunday afternoon as the second game of their three-game homestand. The Mustangs are currently 5-6-0 and 1-0-0 in conference play after defeating Houston 3-2. SMU will face UCF in Orlando on Friday, Oct. 3, before battling the Bulls. SMU returns eight starters from a 2013 team that finished 9-9-1 overall and 3-5-1 in conference play.
ALL-TIME SERIES
The two teams first met in 2013 as they both became members of the American Athletic Conference. The game went to double overtime but neither team could record a goal, resulting in a scoreless draw.
Former Bull Sharla Passariello recorded seven shots in last year's matchup while current players Olivia Chance, Demi Stokes, Jordyn Listro, Jana Spengler and Alex Myers all recorded at least one shot.
NOTES
- Junior Olivia Chance leads the team with 35 shots through 11 games. She needs only three more shots to tie her total from last season.
- Chance is in sole possession of 10th place in career shots with 98.
- Senior Demi Stokes is in sole possession of fifth place on the career shots list with 147, including 23 this season.
- Chance and Stokes both appear on the career goals list as chance is in sixth with 16 and Stokes is tied for seventh with 15.
- Freshman Thordis Aikman is tenth all-time in career saves with 17.
- Sophomore Leticia Skeete leads the team with four goals and three game-winning goals.
- Seven players have recorded at least one point and six have recorded at least one goal.
- Senior Sarah Miller, along with Aikman and Skeete, has been named to the AAC Weekly Honor Roll this season.
- Stokes and Chance were named to the AAC Preseason All-Conference Team.
- The Bulls have only given up more than two goals twice this season and have held five teams to one or less points.
UP NEXT
The Bulls close out their three-game homestand with a match against rival UCF. The Knights will travel to Tampa on Friday, Oct. 10 for an 8 p.m. kickoff.
The USF women's soccer team has posted two consecutive 10-plus win seasons and three in the last four years under head coach Denise Schilte-Brown. The Bulls made their first NCAA tournament appearance and recorded their first tournament victory in 2010. USF returns 23 players from last year's roster including All-American Athletic Conference second team forward Demi Stokes and All-Rookie Team defender Leticia Skeete. They also bring back 11 players that appeared in 15 or more games last season.
- #GoBulls -
