Women’s Soccer Faces SMU in AAC Semifinals
Matchup: No. 22/23 USF (11-3-2, 6-1-1) vs. SMU (11-3-2, 4-2-2)
USF Game Notes
When: Thursday, Nov. 4, 2021
Where: Corbett Stadium
Watch: ESPN+
Listen: Bulls Unlimited
Stats
TAMPA, Fla., Nov. 3, 2021 – The University of South Florida women's soccer team begins play in its ninth American Athletic Conference tournament on Thursday as the bracket gets underway at Corbett Stadium. USF will battle SMU at 7 p.m., looking to make its seventh appearance in the AAC Finals with a win.
The Bulls captured The American's regular-season title in its last match, a 2-0 win over Temple in Philadelphia.
Sydny Nasello (Land O' Lakes, Fla.) was named the AAC Offensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive season, while she was joined by
Chyanne Dennis (Sunrise, Fla.) and
Vivianne Bessette (Montreal, Quebec, Canada) on the AAC All-Conference First Team.
Sydney Martinez (Rincon, Ga.) and
Sabrina Wagner (New Port Richey, Fla.) were both voted all-conference second team, while
Madeleine Penman-Derstine was voted to the league's all-rookie team.
Scouting Temple
SMU, despite being the highest-ranked team in the conference, entered the AAC tournament as the fourth seed and defeated ECU 2-1 to advance to the semifinals.
Lindsey Whitmore leads SMU with 13 points via four goals and five assists. Behind her, second-team all-conference selection Wayny Balata (5g, 2a) and first-team All-AAC member Courtney Sebazco (4g, 4a) both have 12 points for the Mustangs. In net, SMU has had a tandem approach, with both Samantha Estrada and Tatum Sutherland splitting time and posting a collective 0.91 GAA and a 0.842 save percentage.
The Series vs. The Mustangs
USF leads the all-time series, 6-2-1, after a loss to SMU earlier this season. USF's last win came in Oct. 2019, a 1-0 win in Dallas.
Tournament success
USF has posted a league-best 11-2-5 record in eight AAC tournament appearances leading up to the 2021 season. The Bulls are one of two teams to participate in every tournament since the league's inception and have played in every semifinals round, failing to make the finals only twice in the eight seasons.
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 eight consecutive seasons of 10-plus wins and nine in the last 10 years under head coach Denise Schilte-Brown. The Bulls made their first NCAA tournament appearance in 2010 and returned in 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020. South Florida has five consecutive seasons with a conference championships, earning the tournament title in 2017, 2019 and 2020 as well as the regular-season title in 2018, 2020 and 2021. The program had its first draft pick and second-highest pick in USF Athletics history with Evelyne Viens being taken with the fifth overall pick in the 2020 NWSL Draft by Sky Blue FC, now Gotham FC.
-#GoBulls-
