TAMPA, Fla., Feb. 21, 2021 – The Bulls opened up their 2020 conference and home slate with a 2-0 victory over the Temple Owls on Saturday. Two first half goals paired with an excellent defensive effort earned USF the victory. 
 
USF (2-0, 1-0 AAC) struck first in the home and conference opener for the Bulls. Paula Leblic (Madrid, Spain) received a long pass into the box and a crossing path found Katie Kitching's (Bedale, England) left foot and the back of the net to give the Bulls a 1-0 lead.
 
The Bulls doubled their lead in the 29^th minute on a free kick from Leblic. The Spaniard scored with her first goal of the season after her free kick deflected into the net off a Temple defender. 
 
USF's 2-0 lead held into the second half where they continued to play well on both sides of the ball. Defensively, USF's effort stifled the Owls offense. Temple (1-2, 0-2 AAC) was held without a shot until the 44^th minute and only tallied two on the afternoon, with neither going on goal.
 
Junior Sydney Martinez (Rincon, Ga) recorded her 12^th career shutout and her second consecutive clean sheet in the effort.
 
Quotable
Head coach Denise Schilte-Brown on the win…
"I was really proud of the girls. It was a better two halves. We were seeing a lot of inconsistencies from our first halves to our second. I was really proud of the girls and they executed our tactics better in the second half than we had been going into this game. I am starting to see some of their endurance and the identity of our team is starting to come out. Obviously, the goals were good. We had some other chances that I would have liked to have seen go in the back of the net, but credit Temple and their goalkeeper for doing a good job." 
 
Notables

• The Bulls totaled 24 shots on the afternoon, with 12 of them being on goal. 
• Meghan Cavanaugh (Clifton Park, N.Y.) had 6 total shots and 3 on goal. Sydny Nasello (Land O' Lakes, FLA) had three shots with two on goal. Kitching registered 5 shots with 2 of them on goal. 
• The win improved the Bulls record to 7-1 versus Temple. The Bulls are undefeated at home in the all-time series, 5-0. 

 
Up Next
USF is back in action on Feb. 27 at 6 p.m. at the University of Florida for a non-conference meeting with the Gators. USF won their last matchup with Florida in the 2019 NCAA tournament, 4-2.

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 and 2019.
 
-#GoBulls-