CINCINNATI - The University of Cincinnati women's soccer team hung tough throughout the match, but the Bearcats were unable to recover from an early goal conceded and dropped a 1-0 decision to visiting USF Thursday night at Gettler Stadium. The Bearcats fell to 6-8-2 on the year and 4-3-0 in the American Athletic Conference while the Bulls, who are receiving votes in this week's United Soccer Coaches Top 25, improved to 11-3-0 and 6-1-0 in the AAC.
// NOTING THE MATCH
• Cincinnati fell to 6-8-2 on the year and 4-3-0 in the league while USF improved to 11-3-0 and 6-1-0 in the conference
• The Bulls pulled ahead in the all-time series, 12-11-4, but the Bearcats still lead when playing at home, 7-4-1
• USF is receiving votes in this week's United Soccer Coaches Top 25 and is #21 in the Top Drawer Soccer rankings
• Despite the loss, the Bearcats remained in the Top 4 of the league standings on 12 points with two matches to play
• Madison Less tallied six saves in the match while her defense turned away several shots with blocks up front
• Sydney Goins led the team with two shots, including a head on goal late in the match that was saved
• Five other players logged one shot each with Sophie Gorman's early free-kick going on frame
// SCORING SUMMARY
3' • USF got on the board early in the match with Evelyn Viens, the league's all-time leader in both goals and points, found the back of the net. On the play, Viens collected a long pass from the defense and moved into the top of the area. There, she dribbled through two defenders and got a shot off past a diving Less.
// TOUGH PLAY
Despite the deficit, the Bearcats defense continued to stand tall, holding Viens to just four shots on the night, marking only the fourth time in 13 matches this year she had not fired five or more shots in a match. Freshman Ashley Barron and sophomore Alli Pestaina shared time marking the striker and also helped the Bearcats transition to offense.
// CLOSE ATTEMPTS
The Bearcats had a trio of attempts that were close to scoring. In the 20', UC was awarded a free-kick just outside the box. Gorman took the shot, sending it around the wall, but it was saved by the USF keeper to keep it 1-0 in favor of the guests. In the 52', the Bearcats looked to get a breakaway attempt with Han Tang passing to Vanessa DiNardo, who slipped a through ball to Brandi Thomsen, who saw her shot across frame slide just wide. Finally, late in the match, a corner kick was played into the area by Karli Royer that found Goins near the back post, but the senior's header was snared out of the air by the keeper to thwart the chance.
// AROUND THE LEAGUE
Only one home team won tonight in AAC play with Memphis (won 4-1 over Houston) retaining its top spot on the table with 19 points. USF stayed close on the Tigers' heels with its win keeping the second with 18 points. UCF (won 1-0 at ECU) now has 14 points and is third in the standings with the Bearcats slipping to fourth on 12 points. SMU moved up to fifth on nine points following its 3-0 win at Tulsa while ECU joined both idle teams - UConn and Temple - in a tie for sixth place with seven points. The season ended tonight, the Bearcats would play host to SMU in the opening round of action in the AAC Tournament.
// NEXT MATCH
The Bearcats return to action Sunday with a 1 p.m. kick against visiting UCF.
Women’s Soccer Drops 1-0 Decision to USF
The University of Cincinnati women's soccer team hung tough throughout the match, but the Bearcats were unable to recover from an early goal conceded and dropped a 1-0 decision to visiting USF Thursday night at Gettler Stadium.
