#8 South Florida Slips Past #15 Dartmouth Men's Soccer, 1-0

Wednesday, October 21

Tampa, Fla.

7:30 PM

Dartmouth College

South Florida

#8 South Florida Slips Past #15 Dartmouth Men's Soccer, 1-0

10/21/2009 10:15:00 PM | Men's Soccer

By: Dartmouth

Boxscore

Tampa, Fla. - The 15^th ranked Dartmouth men's soccer team took a hard-fought 1-0 loss to #8 South Florida in a marquee late non-conference matchup.

The Bulls struck midway through the first half to take the 1-0 lead and never relinquished it, bolstered by goalkeeper Jeff Attinella's eight saves.

Dartmouth (8-3-1, 3-0 Ivy) held the overall advantage in shots over USF (10-2-2), 15-10, also putting eight on goal compared to just four for USF. The teams were even with five corner kicks apiece.

Dartmouth pressured South Florida from the opening whistle, getting five shots off in the first 10 minutes including attempts by Lucky Mkosana (Bulwayo, Zimbabwe) and Austin Bowers (Old Greenwich, Conn.) that were saved by Attinella. The Bulls did not get past the Big Green's backline until the 14^th minute and rookie keeper Sean Donovan (Burr Ridge, Ill.) was not tested until the 16^th when he saved an attempt by Ashani Fairclough.

South Florida broke through on its third attempt, scoring the eventual game-winner in the 27^th minute. Jorge Mora scored his second goal of the season assisted by Hasani Sinclair and Javed Mohammed.

Dartmouth kept he pressure on including an Mkosana shot that was blocked in the 32^nd, but USF maintained the 1-0 lead heading into the half. The Big Green held a 9-3 shot advantage in the opening 45.

South Florida came out with a bang in the second, earning four corner kicks and taking three shots, including one saved by Donovan, in just the first nine minutes. Dartmouth finally countered in the 57^th minute when Bowers fired one off an Olsen corner kick but Attinella was there to make the save.

The Big Green attacked furiously throughout the half, including a flurry in which Atinella made two saves in three minutes. The Bulls also tried to add to their lead including consecutive shots saved by Donovan and blocked by the defense.

Dartmouth's final attempt of the game was a good one as Daniel Keat (Wellington, New Zealand) stepped in for a free kick with less than three minutes to play. As to be expected he fired a rocket, but Attinella made a great save to preserve the win for USF. South Florida ultimately outshot Dartmouth, 7-6, in the second half.

Donovan finished with three saves in goal for Dartmouth.

The Big Green flies home and has a tight turnaround before hosting Ivy foe Columbia this Saturday afternoon on homecoming at 4 p.m. at Burnham Field.