TAMPA, Fla., Aug. 21, 2022 – The University of South Florida women's soccer program had its patience pay off in its season-opener, taking the match, 3-1, against Florida Gulf Coast after lingering lightning in the area forced a nearly three-hour rain delay in the first half.
 
The Bulls (1-0-0) had three different players hit paydirt in the opener, with Lucy Roberts (Cheshire, England), Rosalia Muino Gonzalez (Coruna, Spain) and Maria Bulis (Yorba Linda, Calif.) netting South Florida's goals. Signe Markvardsen (Roskilde, Denmark), Meghan Root (Arcade, N.Y.) and Chiara Hahn (Lauterbach, Germany) added assists as well.
 
The game started with a typical Florida evening as the backdrop, as partly cloudy skies shading the field for the first third of the opening half. The picturesque environment quickly turned inclement, as lightning moved in and forced a two hour and 41-minute break in the action.
 
Emerging from the delay still scoreless, South Florida started to apply pressure in the first ten minutes after the restart and drew a foul in the box to earn a penalty kick opportunity. Roberts took the kick and converted, slipping the ball past a diving keeper on the right side to give the Bulls their first lead of the 2022 season in the 26^th minute.
 
Less than five minutes later, Muino Gonzalez received a feed from Markvardsen and chipped a well-placed shot over the Florida Gulf Coast goalkeeper to give the Bulls a 2-0 lead which wouldn't change in the remainder of the half.
 
After the scheduled halftime break, Florida Gulf Coast cut into the Bulls' lead in the 78^th minute as Louise Lillback capitalized on a failed clear attempt to make the score 2-1.
 
South Florida responded less than 10 minutes later. Root sent a corner kick into the box, which, after a blocked shot from Hahn, found Bulis who tapped it in to give the Bulls a 3-1 win.
 
Notables

• The Bulls are now 18-7-3 in home openers and 16-9-3 in season openers in the team's 28-year history and now have eight game win streaks in each category.
• Bulis, who played 45 minutes in the second half, scored her first collegiate goal in her debut.
• South Florida improves to 4-1 all-time against Florida Gulf Coast with a three-match win streak.
• Sydney Martinez (Rincon, Ga.) made five saves in the 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 ten consecutive seasons of 10-plus wins under head coach Denise Schilte-Brown. The Bulls made their first NCAA tournament appearance in 2010 and returned in 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021. South Florida has five consecutive seasons with a conference championship, 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-