After a 3-1 loss at home to #15 Missouri State, Memphis Men’s Soccer traveled to Tampa to play the South Florida Bulls in a very important conference game. Memphis dropped this game to their opponents 1-0. This result shakes things up significantly as we inch closer to the AAC Tournament.
The game began with a feeling out period, as the pair of rivals looked to get in their rhythms. There were not any shot attempts by either team until the 9th minute, when USF midfielder Pedro Faife tried to convert a pass from the left corner, but the shot would sail above the goal.
After withstanding a Memphis push, the Bulls responded with a trio of corner kicks in the 16th minute coming off a deep pass by USF defender Mathis Haugen to his teammate John Adekunle streaking downfield. None of these corners resulted in anything.
The Bulls and Tigers continued to play a slow and patient game, kicking the ball around until someone could get open. Memphis finally got Anthony DiFalco a chance in the 28th minute with the keeper out of position, but the shot sailed left of the goal.
Adekunle responded quickly for USF, however. He sprinted downfield and got a great shot on goal in the 30th. The attempt was deflected out of bounds by Memphis keeper Filip Sabatti, netting the Bulls a 4th and 5th corner kick that did not have any consequence.
Just minutes later, Tyler Richardson drove the ball into the upper left corner from a great distance to give the Bulls a surprising 1-0 advantage.
Memphis, looking to equalize before halftime, stormed down the pitch and got some great positioning. They set up multiple cross passes, but none of them produced a tying goal and the Tigers went into halftime down 1-0.
Once the teams returned from the break, Memphis upped the tempo to equalize the score. Ryan Ruguaru got the first shot attempt in this stretch in the 50th minute, which was saved by Bulls keeper Felix Schaefer.
USF committed several fouls in the minutes following this, giving Memphis plenty of opportunities to set up their offense and tie the contest.
None of these would result in anything substantial, as Memphis struggled to produce anything offensively.
Faife then stepped on the back of the ankle of Memphis midfielder Cory Pitlik in the 71st minute, earning a red card, and the Tigers were up a player for the remainder of the game.
Despite their man advantage, the Tigers were unable to break the defensive form of USF. Two corner kicks, one in the 75th and one in the 81st were both cleared, and two shots by DiFalco did not find the back of the net.
As time ticked away, the Tigers pressed every inch of advantage they could get, but the last-minute attempt by Lleyton Imparato fell into the hands of Schaefer. The Bulls hung on to earn a 1-0 win.
