USF Men's Soccer Takes on Iona Tonight

After dropping the first game of the season to South Carolina on Thursday night/Friday morning, the Bulls, 3-1-0, look to rebound against Iona in the USF tournament.  Iona, 1-3-0, lost 0 to 2 to FGCU on Thursday night and has scored only one goal the entire season (game begins at 7:30PM).

The Gaels have one goal this entire season (4 games in) and it was scored by sophomore midfielder/forward Ignacio Maganto (5-7).  He has taken 13 shots so far and is the most aggressive striker for Iona.  Senior forward Ansger Otto (5-6) has taken 10 shots, junior midfielder Franklin Castellanos (5-6) has taken 6 shots, and junior forward Samuel Adjei (5-8) has taken 4 shots to round out the front line of their offense.   While the Gales have struggled on offense, their defense has been their strength.  Senior goalkeeper Borja Barbero (6-2) has 4 saves and has allowed 4 goals this season so far.  Just 4 goals against him means the Gaels backline is stout and will challenge the Bulls who were held in check by South Carolina and are still looking to get the offense going.

The Bulls, like they did against South Carolina, will need to control the pace of the game and keep the pressure up on the attack.  Charpie, Baldin, and others have to heat up on offense and get some goals on the board to take the pressure off the backline and Eric Osswald.   It should be very interesting to see how the team comes out in this game.