TAMPA – The USF men’s soccer team advanced to the Elite 8 round of the NCAA Tournament with a 3-1 win in penalty kicks over UNC Greensboro on Saturday night at the USF Soccer Stadium.
The game went to penalty kicks after two overtimes left the game tied at 1-1.
That set the stage for sophomore goalkeeper Jeff Attinella to play hero to the hometown crowd of over 1,800.
“I told the team if we go into penalty kicks, Jeff will win the game for us,” said USF head coach George Kiefer. “He saved two penalty kicks (on fouls in regulation) during the regular season and in training he is very hard to beat. So yes, we felt good going into the shootout.”
Attinella stopped the first two UNCG penalty kicks, while Joris Claessens and Javed Mohammed buried the first two opportunities for USF.
“We fought hard to get to that situation," said Attinella. I really enjoyed it. What an atmosphere! Especially, when students are supposed to be on Thanksgiving break. To have that kind of fan support behind us, it really meant a lot.”
UNCG and USF both scored during the third round and the pressure was on UNCG to extend play with the opening kick of the fourth round.
Attinella did not let that happen as he dove, fully-extended to his left to stonewall UNCG junior E.J. O’Keefe and move the Bulls onto the Elite 8.
USF has won five straight postseason games, including a run to its first ever BIG EAST Championship and now awaits the winner of the Wake Forest vs. Dartmouth third-round game, which will take place on Sunday at 1 p.m. in Winston-Salem, N.C.
USF will play either Dec. 5, 6 or 7 in the Elite 8. The Bulls would host Dartmouth if it wins and travel to Wake Forest if the Demon Deacons advance.
The teams went to overtime after a hectic and dramatic second half.
UNCG got on the board at the 46:53 mark on a goal by sophomore forward Nirav Kadam. Kadam beat USF defender Javed Mohammed in the box and put a blast past Attinella.
USF led 19-10 in shots after two overtimes, but couldn’t capitalize until the 82:35 mark in the second half.
That was when a deflection in the box led to a header by Zak Boggs. The header bounced off the near post and dribbled just two yards off the end line. Senior forward Jordan Seabrook swooped in to rip the game-tying goal. It was his sixth score of the season.
The Bulls improved to 10-0-2 at home in 2008. Tonight’s game counts as a tie in the record book.
