Bulls Defeat No. 1 Akron, 2-1

TAMPA (Aug. 28, 2010) – University of South Florida men’s soccer coach George Kiefer has never been afraid to schedule some of the top collegiate soccer teams in the country, whether it be during the exhibition portion of the schedule or regular season. And tonight was a perfect example of that fact as USF closed out the preseason portion of its schedule against 2009 national runner-up – and preseason No. 1 ranked Akron.

Despite the fact that tonight’s game will not count in the results section of the stat sheet, the Bulls made a statement with a thrilling 2-1 win over top ranked Akron in front of 2,320 raucous fans at the USF Soccer Stadium.

The Bulls got two goals from Bernardo Anor and 10 saves from All-America goalkeeper Jeff Attinella in the win over the Zips, a team that lost last year in the national championship game to Virginia in penalty kicks.

Both teams went back and forth early getting quality chances during the first 20 minutes of play.

Andre Mittoo got the first good look on a header off a Javed Mohammed corner kick less, than five minutes into the match, only to have the shot saved by Akron keeper David Meves.

The Zips would then counter on a corner kick of their own when Anthony Ampaipitakwong tried to head home a pass from Michael Nanchoff in the 12th minute of play, however Attinella made the stop.

Attinella would then come up with back-to-back highlight saves during a five minute stretch from the 15th minute to the 20th minute of the game to keep the match scoreless.

It was Bernardo Anor, though, that would get the Bulls on the board first when the native of Caracas, Venezuela headed in a pass from Sebastien Thuriere in the 21st minute off a pass chipped into the middle of the 18-yard box, beating Meves and putting the Bulls up 1-0.

Attinella would then end the first half with three big-time saves in the final 15 minutes of play to keep USF’s one goal advantage.

Ampaipitakwong would put a shot on net with 14:50 left in the first stanza only to have Attinella lie out and make a diving save.

One minute later, the Safety Harbor, Fla. native would come out of the net and put pressure on a driving Darlington Nagbe who had his shot deflected by Attinella wide left of the net.

Nagbe would then make another bid to get the Zips on the board beating three USF players and sending a laser along the ground – and putting Attinella horizontal once again for another key stop - just before the intermission.

In the second half, the tides would turn from a half that saw Akron with the advantage offensively, to the Bulls putting the pressure on offensively.

USF would quickly show the Zips that they were not happy with the one-goal lead when, in the 53rd minute, Hasani Sinclair took a pass and beat his defender in the 18-yard box and then was taken down and awarded a penalty kick. Anor was selected to take the kick, which would have given the Bulls a 2-0 lead; however Anor had his shot stopped by Meves.

After several opportunities for USF, T.J. Roehn, one of seven freshmen to see action in the game, looked for his second goal in as many matches when he took a pass from Anor but put the shot just over the crossbar with just over 17 minutes left in the match.

Anor would then take things into his own hands, striking once again, and logging the game winner in the 75th minute of play when he stole a pass from just inside midfield, drove the ball up the left side, and buried a shot into the bottom right corner of the goal giving the Bulls a 2-0 lead with 14 minutes remaining.

Just over three minutes later, though, Nagbe would put get Zips on the board, and cut the USF lead to one – 2-1 – on an unassisted goal with 11:11 on the board.

Nagbe then had a chance to even the game up, at two apiece, on a header from five yards out with less than five minutes left, only to be denied by Attinella.

On the night, the Zips outshot the Bulls 14-7, including a 10-3 edge in the first half. Akron also held the advantage in corners, 11-1.

Meves had three saves in the loss.

The Bulls will now get a couple days to prepare for its regular season opener against Florida Gulf Coast University on Sept. 1 at 7:30 p.m. at the USF Soccer Stadium.