ORLANDO, SEPT. 24, 2016 – In his first start since Aug. 29, Gonzalo Rodriguez made a triumphant return for the University of South Florida men's soccer team, scoring the game winning goal in the Bulls 2-1 win at UCF in the War on I-4. Rodriguez played a crucial piece to the team's offense, adding an assist for a three-point performance.
Rodriguez (Coustituciou, Chile) scored the first goal of his USF career, sending the Bulls ahead 2-1 in the 66th minute. Rodriguez put in tough shot from outside the box and Nazeem Bartman (Cape Town, South Africa and Lindo Mfeka (Durban, South Africa) were each credited with the assist.
To start the game, Mfeka finally found open space in the 20th minute roughly 25 yards out and took advantage with a beautiful shot to the far post. Rodriguez tallied his first assist of the year.
Just over six minutes later, UCF's Matias Pyysalo put the equalizer in the back of the net from inside the box. The Bulls maintained possession in the final minutes of the half, but couldn't convert despite Nazeem Bartman (Cape Town, South Africa) taking a free kick at the top of the box. His shot in the 41st minute was a foot wide on the right side.
The Bulls entered the second half with a sense of urgency, and took five shots in the final 45 minutes of action. However, UCF outshot the Bulls 10-5, but Christian Knight (Odessa, Fla.) turned in a career performance, tallying seven saves in his second career start.
Key Stat:
Knight made seven saves in 90 minutes of action in the net, compared to UCF's Matt Rosenberg who only made one save.
Notables:
USF has won four-straight matches in September (Sept. 10-Sept. 24). The Bulls also went 4-0 last season from Sept. 11 through Sept. 26.
The Bulls have never lost their American Athletic Conference opener since the league's inaugural season in 2013. USF is 3-0-1 during that span.
Mfeka's goal and assist moves him to a team-high seven points (2 goals, 3 assists).
Up Next:
The Bulls return to Tampa to host No. 7 Clemson (5-1-1) on Sept. 27 at 7 p.m. USF has won its past three games at Corbett Stadium, and the match-up will be the Bulls second against a top-10 team. The game will air live via BullsVision and tickets are available at GoUSFBulls.com or by calling 1-800-GoBulls.
The Bulls ended the 2015 campaign in the second round of the NCAA Tournament and an 11-6-3 overall record (5-1-2 The American). Head coach George Kiefer was named the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) East Region Coach of the Year. Kiefer led USF to its eighth NCAA tournament appearance in the past nine years and earned the No. 2 ranking in the NSCAA East Region. The Bulls posted double-digit wins for the ninth time under Kiefer in 14 seasons and went undefeated at home during the regular season.
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