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Bulls Open 2009 Regular Season Friday Night
Courtesy: USF
Release: 08/27/2009

TAMPA - The University of South Florida women's soccer team will open their 2009 season on Friday, August 28 at 7:30 p.m. as head coach Denise Schilte-Brown and the Bulls will host in-state foe Florida Atlantic at the USF Soccer Stadium.

"We are looking to build of a good preseason with two exhibitions under our belt." said Schilte-Brown. " "The team is focused and excited play to at home. It is always great to have your season opener at home. For the freshman it will be their first official game in their home stadium and that is always a special moment for them."

Florida Atlantic, who will square off with the Bulls for the 15th time, comes into Friday night's affair looking for their first win of 2009 after the Owls were handed a 1-0 set back by Stetson in their season opener. Additionally, FAU will be looking to avenge a 1-0 double overtime loss suffered at the USF Soccer Stadium last September.

Head coach Brian Dooley's Owls were picked to finish fifth in the 2009 Sun Belt Preseason Coach's Poll. FAU is led by Ashley Mannarino and Laura Hyvonen enter the season as the Owls ' top offensive threats. Mannarino, a senior from Boca Raton, was named to the preseason All-Sun Belt Conference Team. FAU returns 15 letter-winners and seven starters from its 2008 squad.

The Bulls are a 4-0-2 at USF Soccer Stadium and hold a 7-5-2 advantage all time against the Owls.

USF will look to keep the momentum rolling from their strong preseason, as the Bulls completed an unblemished 2-0-0 slate with a pair of 2-0 wins over Jacksonville and St. Leo University. The Bulls outshot their opposition by a staggering 29-4 margin.

The Bulls entered the 2009 offseason with a renewed commitment to improving their offensive attack and they showed that they would be able to do just that in their two exhibitions. The Bulls tallied two goals in consecutive games after only doing it twice all of last season.

"One of the things that jumps out at me about this team is that they have a tremendous amount of grit. This team really goes after the ball and we hustle all over the field," said Schilte-Brown.

While the Bulls offense is much improved, much of the credit goes to the middle and defensive thirds. The USF defense was suffocating as they only allowed two shots on goal in 180 minutes of action due to the Bulls improved ball possession and attacking style.

""We have been real strong defensively. We really want that trend to continue and by doing that it will create offensive opportunities. We have created chances that we haven't been able to create this early on in the past. We want to be able to put the ball in the net early on and learn to play with a lead." said Schilte-Brown. "

Schilte-Brown would certainly like to see the Bulls' strong defensive trend continue and not have to rely on keeper Mallori Lofton-Malachi, the Bulls senior captain.

The Philadelphia, Pa., native set a USF season record for making the most saves on a season with 117 and average 6.88 saves per game last season. She also set a school record for shutouts in a season while playing every minute of every game.

Following Friday night's contest, the Bulls will quickly turn their focus to Sunday as they will have just one day to prep for an engagement with No. 7/11 Florida. The Bulls will jump on Interstate-75 and head north to Gainesville for a 1 p.m. start time Sunday at the James G. Pressly Stadium.

Season tickets for USF women's soccer games are $40 for adults and $20 for youths and senior citizens. Adult individual match tickets are $6, while youth and senior citizen admission is $3. All groups of 10 or more can purchase tickets for $2.50 per ticket. All USF students will be admitted at no cost when they display their student ID.