TAMPA, Fla., Oct. 12, 2018- The USF men’s soccer team defeated Temple 3-2 in overtime, led by goals from Tomasz Skublak (Ontario, Canada), Emilio Ycaza (St. Petersburg, Fla.) and Alex Zis (Ontario, Canada) in front of more than 700 fans at Corbett Stadium on Friday night. The victory and three conference points help the Bulls tie the top of the league standings with No. 20 UConn, who the Bulls drew with 2-2 last month.

 

USF (5-5-2, 2-0-1 AAC) earned the win over Temple (3-6-1, 1-2-1 AAC) behind Skublak’s golden goal in the 99th minute, sealing the exciting match for the Bulls and extending both their home unbeaten streak and their overall unbeaten streak to four straight games. USF is undefeated in seven of their last eight matches.

 

The Bulls took control of the match when Zis opened the scoring in the 41^st minute with a beautifully taken free-kick from outside of the box. USF held onto their one-goal lead until the 69^th minute when Temple’s Nick Sarver brought the Owls back level with a headed goal off of his teammate Leandros Lillis’ corner kick.

 

It didn’t take long for Temple to find its go-ahead goal when Justin Hahn gave Temple scored in the 76^th minute with a well-taken shot from outside of the box.

 

The Bulls battled back when Emilio Ycaza scored his first career goal in the 83^rd minute with a header off of Trey Jackson’s (Ocala, Fla.) assist, evened the match with just seven minutes remaining.

 

In overtime, USF came out and continuously pushed and recorded five shots in the overtime period. The golden moment came in the 99^thminute, when Skublak scored his second golden goal of the season off of a Zis corner kick to give the Bulls a thrilling overtime victory over the Owls.

 

On the night, USF was consistently looking to put the pressure on the Owls, outshooting Temple, 25 to 13. Both USF and Temple recorded six shots on goal.

 

Harrison Devenish-Meares (Sydney, Australia) was again an important factor for the Bulls, as he recorded a total of four saves, including a major save in the second half.

 

 

Quotable

“It was a good win. I’m proud of the team for responding, Temple’s second goal was a really good goal but there’s something about this team and we responded,” Bob Butehorn said. “I thought we were really good in the overtime, that was all us. Zis gives us some of the best service you’ll ever see and was phenomenal tonight.”

 

Notable

 

• In the last eight matches, USF is unbeaten in seven, and has won three of their four matches, and their last four matches at Corbett Stadium.
• With his golden goal, Skublak now has two golden goals on the season and three game-winners.
• With the win the Bulls stay undefeated in conference play and are now tied for the top spot in the league.
• Emilo Ycaza’s goal was the first of his USF career.
• The Bulls’ last three matches have all gone to overtime, and four of their last five matches has been in overtime. USF is unbeaten in overtime this season.

 

Up Next

The Bulls hit the road to face bitter rival UCF in the Battle on I-4 on Saturday Oct 20, at 8 p.m.

 

 

About USF Men’s Soccer

The Bulls concluded the 2017 regular season with a 6-6-4 overall record and finished fifth in the American Athletic Conference with a 3-2-2 mark. Head Coach Bob Butehorn leads the Bulls in his second season at the helm in 2018. Sophomore Adrian Bilhardt was added to the preseason all-conference team.

 

Follow the men’s soccer team on social media (Twitter | Facebook | Instagram) and visit GoUSFBulls.com for the most up-to-date information.

 

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