Men’s soccer drops West Virginia too

It was a bad weekend all around for West Virginia as the USF men’s soccer team traveled to Morgantown in its second of a two-match set this weekend, where the Bulls improved their conference record to 2-1-1 and 7-1-1 overall.

Last year, it was the Mountaineers that ended the Bulls’ season, handing them a 1-0 loss in the Big East championship. This time around, the Bulls came out on top with the 1-0 victory.

“The team played very well,” coach George Kiefer said. “I was pleased with the amount of chances we created. After the first 10 minutes, I thought we did a good job of controlling the tempo of the game.”

There was no scoring during regular time. As a result, USF was forced into extra time for the second straight game.

In the 113th minute, the Bulls pulled ahead with a header from freshman Andre Mittoo off of a restart. It was the first goal of Mittoo’s career and was all the Bulls would need to win. He was assisted on the play by senior Simon Schoendorf.

USF’s attack was its biggest advantage. The Bulls out-shot the Mountaineers 22-11 on their way to their first conference road victory of the season.

Defensively, the Bulls held strong as goalkeeper Diego Restrepo registered his third shutout of the season.

“Hats off to Diego on the shutout,” Kiefer said. “Our back line is gelling nicely, and Yohance (Marshall) is doing an outstanding job keeping the defense together.”

The win puts USF in second place in the Red Division, behind Villanova. The Bulls share the same conference record with St. John’s and Cincinnati but have a better overall winning percentage.

On Friday, USF took on Pittsburgh and came away with a 1-1 draw.

Bulls forward Jordan Seabrook scored the team’s only goal, making him the lead goal-scorer with five. The goal came in the 40th minute, when Mittoo delivered a pass that found Seabrook on a breakaway. He was able to finish with a shot that found the left side of the net to give the Bulls a 1-0 lead.

In the 78th minute, the Panthers were awarded a penalty kick after a USF foul. Pittsburgh’s Mike McDade put away the opportunity, leveling the match at 1-1.

Despite out-shooting Pittsburgh 20-8 during the contest, the Bulls were unable to get another goal. In the two extra time periods, USF got off five shots to the Panthers’ two, but in the end, came away with only one point.

“Pitt is a tough place to play,” Kiefer said. “I thought the guys did a good job of handling the field, and it was good to get a point.”