Ft. Myers, Fla., Sept. 15, 2018- The USF men's soccer team fell 5-3 on Saturday night in a heartbreaker to in-state rivals FGCU, despite a comeback effort that got the Bulls within one goal in the second half. 
 
FGCU scored its first of its back-to-back goals in the 16^thminute, when Shak Adams headed in a cross from the right side from teammate Kareem Riley. Not one minute later, a Kareem Riley shot was parried by USF keeper Harrison Devenish-Meares (Sydney, Australia) and fell to the feet of FGCU's Dennis Zapata, who slotted home to double the Eagles' advantage. FGCU extended its advantage when Adams was released on a breakaway and finished the chance for his brace.
 
With just minutes to go in the first half, the Bulls won a corner kick and Alex Zis (Oakville, Canada) sent a perfect cross to Kori Cupid (Chaguanas, Trinidad and Tobago) who volleyed into the back of the net under pressure for his first career goal. USF headed into the break trailing 3-1. 
 
The pressure for both squads picked up in an action-packed second half and USF's Kazuna Takase (Tomoto, Japan) entered the match for his first career minutes at goalkeeper. The Bulls were awarded a penalty kick for a foul on Avionne Flanagan (Baltimore, Md.) in the 63^rdminute and Zis placed it perfectly out of the keeper's reach for his third goal this season, making it a one-goal match at 3-2. 
 
But the Bulls would get no closer, when the Eagles found a goal just minutes later in the 66^thminute when Adams completed his three-goal effort. In the 75^thminute, FGCU found its last goal of the night from Ivan Rosales in close quarters with Bulls goalkeeper Takase. 
 
With just seconds to go in the match, USF's Stephen Rudderham (St. Petersburg, Fla.) collected a deflected pass from Trey Jackson (Ocala, Fla.) on the edge of the box and swiveled to hit a left-footed shot low into the corner for his first goal of the season.
 
The Bulls fell 5-3 in the heartbreaker against FGCU, and drop to 2-5-0 on the season, while FGCU improves to 3-2-0. 
 
USF collected 16 shots on the night with seven coming on frame. Devenish-Meares saw three saves in 45 minutes of action, while Takase collected one in the same amount of time. 
 
Quotable
 
"Give the credit to FGCU, they played with a lot of emotion and passion and there was a great crowd here," head coach Bob Butehorn said. "We put ourselves in a hole, made some mistakes and it was tough to dig ourselves out. It was unfortunate that we did not have a chance to equalize. Overall it was not our best effort but we will pick ourselves up and prepare for our next match." 
 
Notable

• Kori Cupid's goal was the first of the defender's career. 
• Stephen Rudderham had his first goal of the season in the final seconds of the match. 
• USF had two keepers see action in the net in Harrison Devenish-Meares and Kazuna Takase, who saw his first career minutes in the second half. 
• The eight-goal match was the highest-scoring match for both teams this season. 

 
Up Next
The Bulls will travel to Storrs, Conn., to begin American Athletic Conference play against UCONN on Saturday Sept. 22. 
 
About USF Men's Soccer
The Bulls concluded the 2017 regular season with a 6-6-4 overall record and finished fifth in the American Athletic Conference with a 3-2-2 mark. Head Coach Bob Butehorn leads the Bulls in his second season at the helm in 2018. Senior goalkeeper Christian Knight was selected as the American Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year, while sophomore Adrian Bilhardt was added to the preseason all-conference team.
 
Follow the men's soccer team on social media (Twitter| Facebook| Instagram) and visit GoUSFBulls.com for the most up-to-date information.
 
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