USF has always been more football than futbol, but when a Bulls’ team makes it to postseason, its newsworthy enough to mention. The men’s soccer team earned a spot in the NCAA tournament after losing the American Athletic Conference Championship to Tulsa on a 1-1 tie, 4-2 penalty kicks. They faced the same problem in the match against Florida Gulf Coast University in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
It took just over 26 minutes for the first goal of the game, kicked in by Albert Ruiz. Then, in the 43rd minute of the match, Lindo Mfefka answered for the Bulls, making it 1-1. Fellow Bull, Marcus Epp gave USF a lead in the 54th minute when he scored to put the Bulls up, 2-1. The Eagles would come back, though. With 60:29 expired, FGCU’s Justin Gavin tied the game up at 2 apiece with an unassisted goal.
At the end of regulation, the game remained tied, 2-2. In the tiebreaker, penalty kicks, the Eagles made 3 out 4 tries, while the Bulls failed to score. FGCU’s celebration began the moment the ball struck the net, off came the shirts. Seeing athletes tear off their shirts and throw them is not something you see in the other game of football.
The announced attendance was 936, which is a lot of people for Corbett Field.