Attinella sets school record

On a night when USF returned to the win column, senior goalkeeper Jeff Attinella etched his name into the program’s record book.

Attinella set the all-time school record for shutouts in a career (22) as the Bulls topped Rhode Island (2-6-0) 2-0 on Wednesday night at the USF Soccer Stadium.

“Our defense definitely deserves everything,” said Attinella, who only had to make two saves on the night to increase his total to 32 for the season. “Our defense definitely stepped it up tonight and I think that made all the difference. For being the career shutouts leader, it’s definitely a credit to the defense. I’m proud of it, but it’s not just an award for me, but an award for the defense for the past three years I’ve been playing.”

On a corner kick just 10 minutes into the game, senior defender Javed Mohammed assisted junior midfielder Bernardo Anor with his fourth goal of the season.

Less than three minutes later, the tandem teamed up again on another corner kick, stretching the lead to 2-0 at the half.

“There’s a couple of guys that stay after practice, working on shooting goals, so we’re getting more goals off of restarts,” Anor said. “It feels pretty nice. I think we’re moving the ball really well.”          

The Bulls outshot the Rams 7-0 in the first half and 14-6 overall.

“I thought it was a good win, some of the attacking was the best I’ve seen all year, and I was very happy with the teams organization,” said coach George Kiefer.

USF hosts Syracuse (1-4-3) this Saturday at 7:30 p.m.