TULSA, Okla. (Sept. 25, 2014)— The USF women's soccer team dropped its first conference match of the season on Thursday night in a 3-2 loss to Tulsa. The Bulls (5-4-1) led the Golden Hurricane (7-3-1) in shots (14-10), but were unable to capitalize on major scoring opportunities.

Juniors Kate Loye and Olivia Chance each punched in goals for USF, while Chance led all Bulls with 5 shots on the night.

The Bulls found themselves down 1-0 in the 18th minute of the game after a shot by Lauren King escaped the reach of USF goalkeeper Kat Elliott.

The USF offense turned on all cylinders after the Golden Hurricane goal and maintained most of the possession as the first half progressed. Junior Olivia Chance had the first chance to tie the game as she broke past the back line of the Tulsa defense and sent a powerful shot just wide.

USF continued to pressure the Tulsa defense, controlling the momentum in the bottom of the first half. Chance finally got her opportunity and blasted one past the Tulsa goalkeeper from 25 yards out to tie the game at 1-all with just over ten minutes left in the first half.

Chance almost gave the Bulls the 2-1 lead on a header late in the first half, but Tulsa goalkeeper Courtney McKeon made the save.  Junior Cristina Ferral took a beautiful shot from 30 yards out, but sent it just high with four minutes remaining in the half.

Junior transfer Kate Loye took the first shot of the second half for either team but sent the ball just over the crossbar. Loye's shot was the first of the night by someone not named Olivia Chance, who had all four shots in the first half.

The Bulls did what they do best and attacked early in the second half, tying the number of shots they had in the first half in just 4 minutes. The fourth shot was the lucky one as Loye punched one in from 16 yards out to give USF the 2-1 lead just four minutes in to the second half.

Just when it looked like USF would have the win over the Golden Hurricane, Tulsa struck with 1:21 left in the match. Rachel Thun took a free kick, when Roman Edwards found the ball to head it past Elliott, tying the match at 2-all.

The Bulls headed to overtime for just the third time this season. Early on, USF created multiple opportunities but couldn't capitalize. With seven minutes left in the first OT period, the Bulls thought they had the game winning goal, but an offsides call negated the goal.

Senior Demi Stokes recorded three shots in a span of two minutes but was unable to find the back of the net as the first ten minutes of overtime expired.

In the second OT period, it looked as though the game would end in a draw before Kajal Parmar fired one at the USF goal. Elliott went for the save, but couldn't control the ball as it found the back of the net, giving Tulsa the 3-2 win.

The Bulls next conference matchup is Sunday at 2 p.m. as they travel to Memphis, Tenn. to take on the Memphis Tigers. USF will return home on Friday, Oct. 3, as they face Houston at Corbett Stadium. 

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 -