Marquette University Athletics
Marquette University
South Florida
Men's Soccer Eliminates South Florida, 2-1
11/15/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Nov. 15, 2001
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TAMPA - Sixth-seeded Marquette (11-7-1) scored two goals in the first 16 minutes of action and held off third-seeded and host South Florida (14-6), 2-1 in the quarterfinals of the Conference USA Tournament at USF Soccer Stadium on Thursday night. With the victory, the Golden Eagles advance to Friday's 8 p.m. semifinal against second-seeded UAB. Saint Louis meets Charlotte in Friday's 5:30 p.m. semifinal. Charlotte eliminated Cincinnati by battling the Bearcats to a 2-2 tie before advancing, 8-7 on penalty kicks.
Since the C-USA Tournament went to a six-team format in 1999, this marks the third straight year that the sixth seed has eliminated the third seed.
Both coaches agreed that MU's early momentum was the key.
"The first half was as good as you can expect," Marquette coach Steve Adlard said. "We were full of confidence. South Florida came after us hard, and we defended the lead well."
First-team all-league forward Sean Reti scored his seventh goal of the season at the 10:37 mark with an assist from Bryan Godfrey. Derek Gutierrez helped extend the advantage with an unassisted goal six minutes later. The Golden Eagles outshot USF, 8-3 in the first 45 minutes.
"Right away, they came out and established their game, and we abandoned ours," South Florida coach John Hackworth said. "In the second half, we made some changes that helped, but give credit to Marquette for a great game."
Those changes appeared to pay dividends, as Simba Harris notched his first goal of the season five minutes into the second half. South Florida had a 6-0 advantage in corner kicks in the second half, but the MU defense held on for the victory.
