Men's soccer cruises past University of Tampa

The soccer team's pre-season got off to an encouraging start with a 2-0 victory over the University of Tampa in the cross town rivalry known as the Rowdies Cup.

The Bulls improved their record to 11-7-2 all-time in the series against the Spartans and were able to get a first look at eight of the 14 new players coach Kiefer brought in this off-season.

"Tonight was good cause we got to play a lot of guys and nobody got injured," Kiefer said. "We've been working on defending for the last three days and we were able to get a shutout, so there are a lot of positives to draw from it."

The match, which was played in three 30 minute periods instead of the traditional 45 minute halves, was a good way for the coaches to measure their team's fitness levels early on.

"We got a long way to go in a lot of areas and fitness is one them," Kiefer said. "In fairness to the players though, we've been going twice a day for the last three days in the 95 degree heat, so I'm sure their legs we're heavy."

That sentiment was echoed by the players after the match.

"My whole body is tired right now," team captain Yohance Marshall said. "Overall though, I think our fitness is pretty good for this point in the season."

In the first period of play the Bulls were able to control the ball better than they would for the rest of the match. In the 20th minute, junior mid-fielder Kevon Neaves struck a line drive from outside the 18 yard box that ricocheted off the post and into the back of the net to give the Bulls a 1-0 lead.

USF would strike again before the end of the period after Neaves made a good run weaving in and out of defenders. He passed the ball out wide to a streaking Jordan Seabrook who had assisted him on the first goal. This time, Seabrook launched a cross that found the foot of senior forward Simon Schoendorf for the second Bulls goal.

"We have a lot of offensive minded players," Seabrook said. "We've been working mostly on defense thus far so I'm happy with the way everything flowed tonight."

The second and third periods saw less action as the number of shots on goal diminished along with the time of controlled possession. The Bulls had a lot of set piece opportunities off of free kicks in the second period but were unable to capitalize on anything. The final period was more of the same as both teams struggled to maintain possession of the ball.

"We haven't spent a minute on the attack (in practice) but we were still able to get two good goals which is nice," Kiefer said. "But no doubt about it, the main priority is how we handle and possess the ball and I feel like we didn't take care of the ball well enough tonight."

In the end the Bulls out shot the Spartans 9-1. An encouraging sign as they move forward on the training grounds toward a season of high hopes for USF offensively.

"This was a training session for us," Kiefer said. "We just have to keep working on it. We're back out there tomorrow morning at nine."

-David Rice