TAMPA, Fla. (October 17, 2024) – The University of South Florida women's soccer team returned to the friendly confines of Corbett Stadium for an American Athletic Conference matchup with Temple on Thursday. Before the match, the Bulls recognized seven seniors for Senior Night.
Gentiana Fetaj played the hero with a world-class strike on a free kick to give the Bulls a 1-0 victory against the Owls.
With the win, South Florida improved to 9-2-3 overall and 4-1-2 in league play, while Temple fell to 2-13 overall and 0-6 in the AAC.
Before the match,
Sarah Brunner, CeCe Cross,
Ella Shapiro,
Madeleine Penman-Derstine,
Georgia Brown,
Anna Sutter, and
Peyton Felton were honored as part of Senior Night.
The first half was a defensive battle and was scoreless at the break. The Bulls outshot the Owls 12-1 in the first stanza.
After a total of 12 shot attempts to start the second half, a shot found the back of the net.
Sadie Sider-Echenberg drew a foul about 20 yards outside the box. Fetaj stepped up to take the free kick for the Bulls. Fetaj ripped a shot to the upper 90 to beat a diving keeper. Fetaj's goal gave the Bulls the 1-0 victory.
Fetaj finished the match with one goal on three shots. Sider-Echenberg produced a match-high seven shots, with four shots on target.
Micahela Hill and
Serita Thurton both tallied two shots on goal.
Leire Herraez Gallach made three saves in the winning effort. She moved to 9-2-3 on the year and secured her conference-leading eighth shutout of the season.
Tamsin Bynoe collected 10 saves for Temple.
Notable
· The Bulls have outshot their opponents in 12 of the 14 matches.
· South Florida has recorded 20 or more shots in seven of the 14 matches.
·
Gentiana Fetaj recorded her third goal of the season, the fifth of her career.
·
Leire Herraez Gallach notched her conference-leading eighth shutout of the season.
Next Up
South Florida is back on the road for an AAC matchup with North Texas. The Bulls and Mean Green are scheduled for a 3:30 p.m. ET start on ESPN+.
About South Florida 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 2024 season will be the first with Chris Brown at the helm. He spent the last 17 seasons as the associate head coach. Brown helped lead the Bulls to three AAC regular season titles, three AAC Tournament titles, and eight NCAA Tournament appearances – winning a conference title every year from 2017-21 while making five straight NCAA appearances during that period. Brown helped lead the Bulls to their first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance in 2010, a program-record 16 wins and program-best NCAA Tournament third-round appearance in 2019, both conference regular season and tournament titles in 2020, and a string of 10 straight seasons with 10 or more wins (2012-21). Brown has helped lead the Bulls to every NCAA appearance in program history, including two appearances in the second round, and three AAC Championship Game appearances.
As associate head coach, he mentored the program's first All-American and recent USF Athletic Hall of Fame inductee Evelyne Viens, who went on to earn three total All-America honors and an Olympic gold medal with the Canadian National Team at the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo. Goalie Sydney Martinez (2020) and forward Sydny Nasello (2020 and 2021) also earned All-America honors and were among the Bulls that have earned a total of eight AAC Offensive Player of the Year, AAC Midfielder of the Year, AAC Defensive Player of the Year or AAC Goalkeeper of the Year honors. Players he has coached hold every program's individual record and most, if not all, of the top 10 marks in every category.
– #GoBulls –
