USF Women's Soccer Takes on UCF

USF women's soccer kicks off their 2011 season against UCF and their adorable fans.

The season is officially for the USF ladies. The Bulls, coming off of both of their exhibition games being rained out (led both of them though, at least a positive sign for them) will open the start of their regular season with that school in Orlando, you know, Mickey Mouse University (aka UCF). The Knights actually had a solid 2010 season, finishing the year at 15-5-3 (8-1-2 in C-USA) and were 10-2-1 at home, so this is going to be a tough first game for the Bulls, but the senior class of Klotz and company are ready for the challenge. (Game starts at 7 PM so head to Orlando for the game already!) [keep reading]

The Knights had a strong offense last season, averaging 2.26 goals a game (easy facing Tulane all the time). Their head coach Amanda Cromwell in her 13th season continues to have a solid program. She is 173-73-18 all time, so this is going to be a tough first match for the ladies.

The Fighting Mickey Mice are led by junior forward Tishia Jewell (5-6) who started 20 games for them last season. She scored 10 goals last season and had 12 assists as well so she will be a player to hold down and stop her from creating and taking shots of her own. Senior midfielder Katie Jackson (5-7) scored 6 goals and had 7 assists last season. She started and played all 23 games last season so she will be a threat all game long. Junior forward Nicolette Radovic (5-4) had 6 goals last season with 5 assists as well.

Junior defender Bianca Joswiak (seriously, is she related to our Thor?) played in all 23 games last season. Sophomore defender/midfielder Ashley Nicol (5-9) had 3 assists last season from the back line. Senior midfielder Stacie Hubbard had 2 goals and 1 assist as well. Senior goal keeper Aline Reis (5-3) made 20 starts last season. She allowed just 1.03 goals per game, stopping 77 shots against her, giving her a save percentage of .786 on the year.

So how do the Bulls match up here? USF is not a powerhouse goal scoring machine, instead relying on solid defense to slow the tempo of the game down and relying on McClure to stop stops and Stack and company on defense to do what they do best. Klotz and the front line will be able to move the ball against the UCF defense which is not overpowerful. This should be a very close game and the Bulls could get the win and need to as they begin a long season with a senior led team that is looking to get back to the NCAA tournament.