Bulls Down Hoyas; Advance In BIG EAST

11/7/2007

TAMPA, Fla. – Two scores by junior midfielder Kevon Neaves and three assists from senior Simon Schoendorf helped the University of South Florida men’s soccer team defeat Georgetown 4-0 Wednesday night in the first round of the BIG EAST Championship.



The Bulls, 12-4-2 (6-4-1), remained perfect as hosts in BIG EAST tournament play and advance on to a rematch with No. 1 Connecticut this Saturday, Nov. 10 at 7 p.m. in Storrs, Conn.



The fourth-seeded Bulls opened the match with early pressure on a solid GU backline. The Hoyas were able to repel several USF attacks including a centering pass from defender Joris Cleassens to freshman Bernardo Anor that looked like a sure goal, but was touched just wide of the net.



Junior midfielder Kevon Neaves also looked to generate a scoring opportunity off of a perfectly placed ball into the box from a restart that a Georgetown defender managed to head away.



USF would not be kept at bay much longer than that, when in the 39th minute, Schoendorf found both Anor and classmate Tony Taylor in front of the goal off of a centering pass from the right. The two freshmen scrambled with Hoyas’ keeper Matt Brutto before Taylor touched it in for his fifth goal of the year.



The assists gave Anor his fourth and extended Schoendorf’s already career-high to 10, with two more still to come.



The Bulls took the 1-0 lead into the half but Georgetown quickly came out in the second period and nearly equalized the match.



Five minutes past the intermission, the Hoyas crashed USF’s box and the ball briefly became free after keeper Diego Restrepo was kept from making a play on a crossing pass. Georgetown could not capitalize on the open net however as the Bulls’ backline was able to clear the ball up the line.



Minutes later, the tide shifted in USF’s favor as Neaves found his first goal of the night after four beautiful one-touch passes that criss-crossed the GU defenders as the Bulls pushed up the right side into the box. Junior Jordan Seabrook fed Schoendorf who generated a perfect ball to the center where Neaves blasted it past Brutto to make the advantage 2-0.



Georgetown’s final scoring opportunity came with 15:21 to go when forward Chandler Diggs received a lobbed free kick that the Hoyas’ leading goal-scorer fired to the right side of the goal. The shot got past a diving Restrepo but hit the post and was cleared by the USF defense.



USF’s final two goals both came in the 87th minute in a flurry of play.



Neaves posted his second of the night after driving the ball from the bottom of the center circle and powering it to the high right corner of the goal from the top of the box. Almost immediately following the restart of play, sophomore Armante Marshall recorded his first score as a Bull after a misplay by Brutto on a ball off of Schoendorf’s foot that left the net wide open for the Tallahassee native’s putback.



“I thought we put on a good performance tonight,” sixth-year head coach George Kiefer said. “Georgetown is one of the better defensive team in the BIG EAST, so to get four on them is a good result and it shows we’re in good form.”



The three assists for Schoendorf tie his career-best, set in 2005 against Stetson. The Karlsruhe, Germany, native has set personal-highs in every offensive category this season.



Neaves’ two scores tie his career-best, as he also registered two goals in the season opening 5-1 win over UCF on Aug. 31.



Restrepo, returning after a two-game rest, locked up his 11th win and seventh shutout of the year.



The Bulls have now won each of the three BIG EAST Championship games in which they have hosted, dating back to the teams’ first year in the league in 2005.



Saturday’s quarterfinal meeting with UConn will be the first time the two have met in postseason since the Huskies down USF 1-0 in the conference championship game in 2005. Connecticut handed the Bulls their only home loss this year, as USF went 8-1-0 at the USF Soccer Stadium in 2007.