USF men’s soccer hopes to recapture AAC title
USF junior forward Melvin Becket scored the winning goal in a 1-0 shutout of Memphis in the conference quarterfinal.
ORACLE PHOTO/ADAM MATHIEU
The USF men’s soccer team is one victory away from playing in a AAC championship tournament final for the third consecutive year.
The only thing standing in the Bulls’ way is Connecticut.
The No. 2-seed Bulls (11-4-3, 5-1-2) host the No. 3 Huskies in the semifinal match Friday at Corbett Stadium, where they are undefeated (9-0-2).
“Whenever you host the tournament, there’s a monkey on your back,” USF coach George Kiefer said after Saturday’s 1-0 win over Memphis in the quarterfinals.
“Nobody says it, but it’s the unwritten rule. When you host it, you need to be in it.”
USF defeated the Tigers thanks to junior forward Melvin Becket’s goal in the 28th minute. Becket is second on the team with five goals on the season, behind junior forward Nazeem Bartman (seven).
UConn (8-5-5, 3-3-2) advanced out of the quarterfinal by blanking Temple 4-0.
The Huskies displayed their depth — and promising young talent — as three freshmen contributed to the season-best offensive output.
UConn is also unbeaten in its previous six matches, outscoring its opponents 12-3, including a 2-1 overtime victory over USF on Halloween.
The winner of Friday’s match will advance to the final on Sunday. If the Bulls win the title, it will guarantee their first trip to the final since 2013 when they won the inaugural AAC title.
Their stretch of seven straight NCAA tournament bids was snapped last season when they lost to Tulsa in the final.
More Stories
USF overcomes adversity, size disadvantage to extend winning streak to four
In its conference opener, USF volleyball overcame a taller Tulane team 3-2 on Wednesday in The Corral. The Bulls (7-5) lost the first set 25-21 but were able to bounce back to win the second and third sets 25-23 and 25-16. With a chance to seal the game against The Green Wave (4-9), they lost […]
Coordinator hour: Bulls need to play in sync, build on momentum if they want to tally wins
The message each week is clear for the Bulls – they need to show consistency and continue to improve. Heading into their fourth game of the season, both defensive and offensive coordinators Todd Orlando and Joel Gordon said there are no excuses for mistakes and it’s time to start seeing some wins. All eyes will […]
Bulls looking for offense to click, avoid history repeating against Rice
After a spirited battle against No. 13 Alabama last Saturday, USF football is hungry to turn their effort into a win this week against Rice. It’s an eerily similar position to last year in which the Bulls (1-2) almost defeated then-ranked No. 17 Florida 31-28. The next week, USF lost to Louisville in a 41-3 […]
Daquan Evans becomes first Bulls player to receive conference honors since 2018
USF football graduate safety Daquan Evans was named American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Week on Monday. He is the first Bulls football player to receive weekly conference honors since 2018. The last Bulls (1-2) player to receive an AAC weekly honor was Kicker Coby Weiss, named Special Teams Player of the Week on […]
Second-half goals lift USF past Elon
USF men’s soccer caught a 2-1 victory against Elon Sunday night at Corbett Stadium, with graduate forward Jalen Anderson netting two crucial goals in the second half. While this is Anderson’s first season as a Bull (2-4, 0-0 AAC), it isn’t the first time he’s played against the Phoenix (1-3-3, 0-1-1 CAA). As a member […]
Takeaways: Bulls don’t claim ‘moral victory’ in loss to Alabama
A crowd of 65,138 attendees witnessed USF give an elite opponent a tougher battle than expected in a 17-3 loss to No. 10 Alabama at Raymond James Stadium on Saturday. The Crimson Tide (1-2) were 34-point favorites by DraftKings, but USF (1-2) was only a touchdown away from upsetting a top-ten team in the country […]