USF MSoccer takes on University of Tampa in final exhibition game

Eric Osswald and company will take on in-town foe UT in the last tune up game before Michigan comes to town. 

The Bulls will get another tune up exhibition game before they host Michigan to open the regular season and this time, their opponent has to make a quick trip up I-275 for the game (time for the Rowdies Cup!) 

The University of Tampa comes to Corbett to face the Bulls tonight (game starts at 7:30PM).  The UT Spartans had a rough 2011 season, finishing the year at 3-10-2 (3-4-1) and were 1-6-1 away from home (not like they are traveling too far away from home for this game though).  They also lost top goal scorer Ryan Griffin (11 goals) from last year's team, so they will be working out their own rotation issues and should be a good opponent for the Bulls to face to answer their own questions.

The top returning scorer from last year's team is senior defender Dominic Cutrofello (6-2 185-pounds) who scored 5 goals last season coming up from the backline.  Senior defender Brian Fekete (6-0 160-pounds) scored 1 goal and added 3 assists.  Sophomore defender Andrew Clare (6-2 160-pounds) added a 1 goal and 2 assists (what is interesting to note is the amount of defenders and how they are the leading returning scorers, showing the Spartan front line is thin and inexperienced).  Senior midfielder Brock Jennings (5-9 160-pounds) added 1 assist last season.  As we noted, when the bulk of your returning scorers are defenders, it shows the front line of midfielder and forwards are young and inexperienced.  This is good news for the Bulls as they continue to break in new defensive players and the new goalkeeper before they face Michigan.

On the flip side, junior goalkeeper David Niepel (6-2 185-pounds) returns after allowing 23 goals last season (1.84 a game) and made 48 saves.  Along with several seniors on the backline, the Spartans will have a good defense that will challenge the Bulls front.  Like with Jacksonville, Moalosi and others will continue to work on their chemistry and feed off of each other as they work on their offensive attacks.

The Bulls should handle business in this game and come away with another win in the exhibition portion of the schedule.  The Bulls got a 2 to 1 win over Jacksonville earlier this week, but it was not the sharpest they can be and the team will be looking to clean up the fouls and get into rhythm before the start of the regular season. 

After this game the Bulls will take on Michigan on August 24th at Corbett Stadium at 7PM.  The game will be aired live on nationally TV on the Fox Soccer Channel so pack the stadium and cheer the men on to their first win of the season.