After completing a trial stint in Portugal and being drafted by Real Salt Lake, former USF standout goalkeeper Jeff Attinella will start his professional career close to home.

Attinella signed a one-year contract with FC Tampa Bay on Monday, with a one-year club option for 2012. FC Tampa Bay is a second-year club that plays Division II soccer in the North American Soccer League.

Originally from Clearwater, Attinella has drawn the attention of the Bay area since his days at Countryside High School.

While at Countryside, Attinella was part of a team that won a state championship in 2005. He captained the 2006 team to a national No. 1 ranking.

Attinella also excelled as part of the Clearwater Chargers club team, which won the 2006 Florida State Cup Championship.

Attinella was a four-year starter at USF.

During his time on campus, Attinella started 61 games with a record of 38-14-9. He posted a career goals-against-average of just 0.79 goals per game. The Bulls qualified for the NCAA tournament all four seasons and made it to the Elite 8 in 2008.

Attinella played every minute of both his junior and senior seasons, including in a USF-record 10 shutouts. Last season he shut out the opposition in six consecutive games.

FC Tampa Bay will call Al Lang Field in St. Petersburg home for the next two seasons. The team will open at home against the Montreal Impact on April 9th.

Bulls tied for sixth

A strong second round by the USF men’s golf team at the Mobile Bay Intercollegiate tournament in Mobile, Ala., put the Bulls in a strong position heading into the third and final round Tuesday.

After a 12 over par first round, the Bulls posted a 295-stroke second round, only seven over-par.

Along with Kentucky and Mississippi State, the Bulls sit in a tie for sixth, 14 strokes behind tournament leader Middle Tennessee State, which is just five over par. Fifteen teams are competing at the tournament.

In the individual rankings, junior Rick Kittelstad leads the way for USF. Kittelstad finished his second round in just 68 strokes, 11 fewer than his first-round score. No player at the tournament managed a lower score in either round of competition. It was a career-best round for Kittelstad.

The third round begins today at 9 a.m.