By TOM ZEBOLD

USF Senior Writer

TAMPA (Nov. 2, 2014) – USF women's soccer advanced to the American Athletic Conference Championship game with authority by handing East Carolina a 3-0 loss in Friday's second semifinal at Corbett Stadium.

Jackie Simpson started the scoring in the 29th minute before Demi Stokes and Jessica Clark padded the lead in the second half to help the Bulls set up a championship meeting with UConn, which defeated UCF, 1-0, in Friday's first semifinal. USF (13-6-1, 6-3) has won six consecutive games and looks to tie the single-season program wins record at 11 a.m. Sunday back at Corbett Stadium (TV: ESPNU).

“We really didn't want to look ahead. We knew ECU would be a good game and it's hard not to look ahead when you're at home and you want to be in the championship that bad,” head coach Denise Schilte-Brown said. “It was one of those things where you really wanted to see the girls stay grounded and focused. I thought they did because they came out buzzing and really put the game in hand early, which was nice.”

Third-seeded USF improved to 2-0 this season against seventh-seeded East Carolina (12-8-1, 4-5-0) after seizing control in the first half Friday night. The Bulls outshot the Pirates, 13-2, in the opening period and pulled ahead in the 29th minute with the play of the night.

Olivia Chance took a corner kick and quickly dished the ball to Cristina Ferral, who perfectly placed a pass in the box to Simpson and the junior headed home her second goal of the season. Simpson, a Lithia, Fla., native, has two game-winning goals this season after boosting the Bulls to a 2-1 victory over SMU on Oct. 5 at Corbett Stadium.

“We worked on it in practice, we've been working on it all season and hadn't done it yet, so now was the time,” said Simpson of Friday's go-ahead goal. “I went up, called it and it went in.”

The Bulls kept the pressure on early in the second half and it paid off in the 48th minute when Stokes scored her fourth goal of the season on a penalty kick. The senior from South Shields, England is 4-for-4 in penalty kick chances this season.

“I actually felt in the first half that we did a good job of dominating. It was 13 shots and the scary thing of it was it was only 1-0 at that point and we know that ECU is such a rally team,” Schilte-Brown said. “We wanted them to score early in the second half and they did.”

Clark, a junior from Miami, put the finishing touches on USF's impressive performance by scoring her first-career goal in the 60th minute. USF finished with a 24-8 shot advantage and the big lead allowed 18 Bulls the opportunity to contribute on a special night for the program.

Sunday's championship game will mark the second USF-UConn meeting of the season after the Bulls defeated the Huskies, 2-0, on Oct. 16 in Storrs, Conn.  USF is competing in its first conference championship game since the Big East final in 2010 and the Bulls know Sunday will be a tough battle to the finish. Tickets can be purchased at the Corbett Stadium box office located next to the front entrance.

“We both know that both teams are going to give everything they have and (UConn) has such a great team as well,” Schilte-Brown said. “Now we just need to settle down and prepare for them. They're very different from ECU, so it's just kind of getting ready for a different look.”For more information on the women's soccer program, visit @USFSoccer on Twitter.

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 -