No. 24 USF men’s soccer team falls to Notre Dame, Indiana
After entering the weekend undefeated, the USF men's soccer team suffered losses against No. 5 Notre Dame and No. 18 Indiana at the Mike Berticelli Memorial Tournament.
Just five days after defeating No. 3-ranked Georgetown, USF faced another top-10 opponent in fifth-ranked Notre Dame at Alumni Stadium in South Bend, Indiana. But the Bulls fell 2-0, despite a strong defensive effort.
Sophomore forward Jon Gallagher got the Fighting Irish on the board after retrieving a loose ball that had slipped past the USF back four. Gallagher only had goalkeeper Spasoje Stefanovic to beat and converted from the top of the box.
After both teams traded chances with each other, USF freshman defender Prosper Figbe was called for a handball in his defending box, awarding a penalty kick to Notre Dame. Stefanovic dove in the right direction of the penalty kick, but junior Brandon Aubrey placed the kick wide enough for it to go in.
Both USF and Notre Dame finished the night with two shots on goal. Fighting Irish goalkeeper Chris Hubbard finished the night with two great saves while Stefanovic had one save.
Sunday afternoon saw a similar result for the Bulls in their 2-0 loss against the No. 18 Indiana Hoosiers.
Indiana pulled ahead in the 14th minute after a ground cross from the right side by Hoosiers defender Billy McConnell found forward Femi Hollinger-Janzen in the middle, who struck it first time into the back of the net.
After multiple chances from both sides, the Hoosiers finally scored the dagger in the 63rd minute. Grant Lillard scooped up a loose ball and scored from six yards out to score the final goal of the day.
Indiana outshot USF 17-8, but tied the Bulls with three shots on target for both sides.
USF returns to Corbett Stadium on Friday to face Georgia Southern at 7 p.m.