Women's Soccer Home Opener Friday

[Brad]

Courtesy USF

W. Soccer Home Opener Friday

TAMPA, Fla. – After six games on the road to start the 2007 season, the University of South Florida women’s soccer team will host its home opener on Friday, Sept. 28 when the Bulls face off against the No. 21 Connecticut Huskies at 7:30 p.m. at the USF Soccer Stadium. The Bulls then travel to Rhode Island on Sunday to play Providence College at noon. 

The Bulls enter their second BIG EAST contest of the season with a 1-4-1 overall record, including their 3-2 victory over Miami on Sept. 14 in Coral Gables, Fla. Against the Hurricanes, senior midfielder Autumn Browning recorded two goals for the Bulls while junior forward Lindsay Brauer, who was a 2006 third team BIG EAST player, recorded her 10th USF-career goal. Brauer, sophomore Rachel Jakubowski and freshman Therese Dahlberg Erikkson each notched an assist in the non-conference game. 

The Bulls are 0-1 in the BIG EAST after dropping a heartbreaker to No. 23 Marquette Sept. 21 in Wisconsin. USF held the Golden Eagles scoreless in the first half, but gave up one goal in the second to lose their first conference game of the season. 

About UConn

Friday night’s match-up features USF vs. No. 21/NR Connecticut, who began the season as the 16th best team in the country in both the NSCAA-adidas and Soccer America polls. Since that time the Huskies have gradually dropped through the top 25, to 17/23 (Sept. 4) then to No. 23/NR the past two weeks, before jumping back up to 21st. USF is 0-2-0 all-time against the Huskies, losing 1-0 at home in overtime in 2005 and 3-0 on the road in 2006.

The Huskies are 5-2-0 this season, with both losses coming at the hands of nationally-ranked teams. Connecticut beat Princeton to open the season, then dropped games to then-No. 9 Stanford and No. 15 Penn State before picking up four consecutive wins over Central Connecticut, Brown, Fairfield and Providence.

Connecticut brings a balanced scoring attack to Tampa, as 15 players have tallied a point, seven of which have three-or-more. The Huskies are led by Annie Yi’s nine points (4g, 1a), followed by eight apiece from Karyn Riviere (4g) and Erin Clark (3g, 2a). Connecticut’s goalkeeper has registered two shut outs while allowing five goals in seven games. She has made 14 saves for a .71 goals against average. 

About Providence

After Friday’s game, the Bulls will play their seventh road game of the season when they travel to Rhode Island to take on Providence. The Friars are 1-6-1 with their lone victory coming at home against Hartford (1-0). In its first BIG EAST game, Providence lost to Connecticut 6-0 on Sept. 21 in Rhode Island. USF is 1-0-1 all-time against Providence, as the Bulls beat the Friars 2-0 last season in Florida after tying 0-0 in Rhode Island in 2005. 

Three players have tallied two points apiece for the Friars this season as Megan Mancarella and Marra Whaley have each recorded a goal and Christie Gent has two assists. Laura Elfers has started all eight games in the net, recording one shut out. She has made 36 saves and allowed 19 goals for a 2.47 goals against average.

Upcoming Schedule

After the split home and away conference weekend, the Bulls return to the USF Soccer Stadium to host four consecutive BIG EAST conference games at the beginning of October. The first weekend of the month will feature Georgetown (Oct. 5) and Villanova (Oct. 7). The following set will conclude USF’s home games for the year when Syracuse (Oct. 12) and St. John’s (Oct. 14) come to town. 

Watch The Bulls Live On USF Press Pass

For the first time ever, the USF Press Pass on GoUSFBulls.com will feature sideline-to-sideline coverage of every women’s soccer match played at the USF Soccer Stadium throughout the 2007 season. During Bulls’ matches, USF Press Pass members can enjoy live video and listen to a live play-by-play broadcast with Jim Henderson. Live stats are also available for all matches on USF’s website, through the “live stats” link. The unprecedented coverage is free to existing Press Pass subscribers. Visit GoUSFBulls.com for membership details.

Tickets

Tickets for the game are $5 for adults, $3 for youth 16-and-under and $2 for groups of 10 or more and are available on www.GoUSFBulls.com or by calling 1-800-GoBulls. Season tickets are also available.

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Gonna have a tough time drawing on Friday....

[outrunner]

They need to schedule these things a little better.

[Jamie]

This is going to be like one of those games in Italy where they make the teams play in an empty stadium because the fans got out of hand.