USF Athletics

Future Is Bright for Young Bulls After Banner 2017 Season

November 30, 2017

By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer

TAMPA, NOV. 30, 2017 – Loaded with young talent, USF women's soccer is shaping up to be a consistent force to reckon with in the future after having a banner year in 2017.

With a roster filled with 24 underclassmen, head coach Denise Schilte-Brown's Bulls captured the program's first American Athletic Conference tournament title on the way to making USF's third NCAA tournament appearance in the past four years.

"Just looking to the future, I would say one of the most exciting things is in these individual meetings, all of them want to push harder. They want to go farther," Schilte-Brown said. "They're done being happy with the success of the season. The NCAA tournament didn't go as far as they wanted, so they're hungry. That's what you want."

Determination is now at an all-time high for a driven program that's definitely trending upward.

USF (13-4-2) posted its sixth consecutive 10-plus win season that ended with a close loss at No. 16 Florida in the second round of the NCAA tournament. Down, 1-0, star sophomore forward Evelyne Viens nearly came up with the equalizer in the 86^th minute of a match the Bulls put everything into.

"Evelyne's shot right at the end of the game was so close to going in," Schilte-Brown said. "The belief they had that they could win the whole time, I was really proud of them for it."

Two games before Florida, belief helped the young Bulls make program history in the conference tournament title match at No. 8 UCF. To knock off the top seed, USF kept things scoreless through two overtime periods before getting clutch penalty kick goals from sophomores Andrea Hauksdottir, Kelli Burney and Viens, along with freshmen Sabrina Wagener and Leah Ferlin.    

"We prepared more than we normally do and it's amazing to see how young the girls are that handled the stress and put it in," Schilte-Brown said.

After beating UCF, Viens, Ferlin and sophomore Aubrey Megrath all found the back of the net in USF's NCAA first-round win over Florida Gulf Coast that improved the Bulls to 7-1 at Corbett Stadium on Nov. 11. The victory helped USF extend its unbeaten streak to 10 matches and the loss to Florida was the Bulls' first since all the way back on Sept. 24.

"We started out the season with a good schedule and I think we learned from every game we played. We had a couple challenges in there, but every single game we learned," senior midfielder Jessica Hamrick said. "I'm very proud of this team. It's a young group, but as seniors we have kind of instilled the knowledge and tried to teach the younger ones everything and how to be competitive."

Hamrick and fellow seniors Kat Elliott, Brittany Raymond, Grace Adams and Ocean Parr helped lay a winning foundation for a hungry program packed with championship experience moving forward. A total of 27 players are returning in 2018 and 14 of them will still be underclassmen when next season kicks off.

"We return so many of them," Schilte-Brown said. "The memory is fresh, the confidence will be there and we've all taken that step together."

A Season of Memorable Feats
Take a look at notable facts and figures from USF's amazing 2017 season:

• At 13-4-2, USF posted its sixth consecutive 10-plus win season, all under head coach Denise Schilte-Brown.
• USF advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2010.
• USF is ranked No. 25 in the latest United Soccer Coaches poll.
• Sophomores Evelyne Viens (Canada) and Andrea Hauksdottir (Iceland) both earned United Soccer Coaches All-Southeast Region honors. "They really helped us be successful this year and with their hard work and their competitiveness, they earned this award," Schilte-Brown said. "I'm very proud of them and honored for them."
• Viens led the conference in points (33), shots (85), assists (9) and game-winning goals (6), and finished second with a team-leading 12 goals.
• Viens was one of 11 different goal-scorers for the Bulls this season.
• USF registered eight shutouts and allowed just 1.11 goals per game.

 
About USF Women's Soccer
Be sure to follow USF women's soccer on social media (Twitter / Instagram/Facebook) and visit GoUSFBulls.com for the most up-to-date information. 
 
The USF women's soccer team has posted six consecutive seasons of 10-plus wins and eight in the last nine years under head coach Denise Schilte-Brown. The Bulls made their first NCAA tournament appearance in 2010 and returned in 2014, 2015 and 2017.