USF Ladies Take on Alabama A&M

USF ladies are back to to work this afternoon as they take on Alabama A&M.

The Bulls continue their regular season at home as they host Alabama A&M University (game starts at 1PM). USF was able to recover from an early lost two weeks ago to UCF and beat Indiana on Friday night to even their record at 1-1 on the year. In this match, they hope to get a winning record going as they face a struggling Alabama A&M team.

AAMU (we will use that to shorten up their name) finished the 2010 season at 6-13-0 (2-1-0 in conference play) and were 3-9-0 away from home, so we aren't facing any kind of juggernaut here. Last year, AAMU averaged just 1.05 goals per game while allowing 4.47 goals per game against them, so defense was a major issue and in 2011, in just the first two games for them (Austin Peay State and Kennesaw State) is has gotten worse for them.

AAMU lost their first home game 14 to 0 (Austin Peay) and the second game 8 to 0, to send them to 0-2-0 on the season. Opponents have made 59 shots on goal so far against AAMU while they have just 4 shots on goal themselves. AAMU is struggling big time so this is a perfect opportunity for the Bulls to get out and get a solid game for themselves. Let's take a look at some of the players for AAMU that will be on the field for this one. [keep reading]

Graduate forward Celeste Roberts (5-7) made 17 starts last season, leading the way with 6 goals and 3 assists. She has taken 2 shots this season and will continue to fire away at the goal. Senior forward Nicole Henderson (5-3) appeared in 7 games last season, starting 2, and scored 4 goals. She has taken 1 shot so far and will look to get going to try to give them their first goal of the season (Stack and McClure need to shut this down before it even begins).

Graduate midfielder Joice Avila (5-6) made 12 starts last season and had 1 goal (most players got a chance for AAMU and will continue to look for any kind of spark on offense). Graduate defender Yashika Dixon (5-3) appeared in 16 games last year, making 4 starts. Junior midfielder Jana' Slay (5-3) made 10 starts last season, with 3 shots on goal (need offense anywhere they can). Graduate midfielder Hernendez Haughton appeared in 7 games last season with 4 starts, adding 2 assists. She has started 2 games thus far and taken two shots.

The real issue for AAMU is their goalkeeping situation and this is where USF will have a huge advantage. Linda Aboagye (5-9 senior) made 11 starts last season (17 total games). She made a total of 95 saves, stopping .629 of shots against her, but did allow 3.84 goals against her (per game). She ended the 2010 season with a 2-8 record.

So far, 2011 is a lot worse for her. In the first two games, Aboagye has allowed 22 goals against her (12.09 goals per game), making 18 saves, and stopping just .450% of shots. The front line with Klotz, Gina Pacheco, and Noelle Pineiro, should have a field day and go on the attack.

After this, the Bulls will host Vanderbilt to open the Dafeldecker Classic on September 2 at 5 PM.