By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer
TAMPA, NOV. 13, 2016 – Regular season champion USF nearly pulled off the sweet American Athletic Conference title sweep Sunday afternoon at Corbett Stadium.
Nazeem Bartman put USF ahead in the 52nd minute before defending champion Tulsa prevailed in penalty kicks by a 4-2 margin in the conference championship game that was tied, 1-1, after two overtime periods.
USF (10-6-2) appeared in The American's tournament final for the third time in four seasons. Head coach George Kiefer's Bulls nearly won it all for the second time after locking up the conference's regular season title with a program best 6-1 record in league play.
Sunday's finalists battled to a scoreless tie by halftime and the top-seeded Bulls jumped ahead shortly after the break. Marcus Epps maneuvered between two defenders and found Nazeem Bartman, who sent home his sixth goal of the season in the 52nd minute of play.
Tulsa got the equalizer 20 minutes later, when Juan Sanchez found a way to get his third goal of the season just over the reach of Spasoje Stefanovic (Serbia). USF almost got the game-winning goal in the 77th minute, when Lindo Mfeka (South Africa) had his shot stopped by Jake McGuire, the tournament's most outstanding keeper.
Bradley Farias had a shot go wide in the final minute of the first overtime period. Mfeka had another good look in the second overtime, but his close-range shot went wide in the 106th minute.
Ricardo Gomez (Gainesville, Ga.) and Gonzalo Rodriguez (Chile) both scored for USF in penalty kicks before Tulsa pulled away for in a shootout for the second straight year.
Quotable:
Head coach George Kiefer on the championship game:
“It was a good final. It's what you expect to see in a final and it could have went either way. I thought we had two or three looks late, that if we tucked them in the far post instead of near, it might have been a different story, but it was an excellent game.”
Head coach George Kiefer on penalty kicks, NCAA tournament:
“It's actually better in the big scheme of things because it goes down as a tie and our RPI is good, so we expect to be at home on Thursday night in the NCAA (tournament). After a PK loss, there is a little more emotion, so how do you get the guys back and lift them up? We'll do a good job having them ready for Thursday.”
Key Stats:
4-2 – The margin of victory by Tulsa in the shootout.
11-11 – The shot margin produced by the teams throughout regulation and two overtime periods.
5 – The number of saves made by Tulsa keeper Jake McGuire.
Notables:
- USF appeared in The American's championship game for the third time in the past four years.
The Bulls won the league tournament in 2013 and captured The American's regular season title this year.
- Nazeem Bartman has six goals this season after finding the back of the net in the 52nd minute Sunday afternoon.
- Tulsa appeared in the conference championship game for the second consecutive season, winning in a penalty kick shootout for the second time.
- USF's representatives on the all-tournament team were defender Prosper Figbe, midfielder Marcus Epps, forward Nazeem Bartman and keeper Spasoje Stefanovic.
Up Next:
USF will see where its postseason path continues during the NCAA Selection Show that airs 1 p.m. Monday on NCAA.com.
- #GoBulls -
