Set for the second season
Sean Barry reports.
TAMPA, Fla. – It’s hard to imagine that a team that failed to score a single goal in their first four games is now heading to the NCAA Tournament. But that is exactly how this season went for the USF men’s soccer team.
“It was rough in the beginning, but we just stuck together,” said junior defenseman Sergio Pineros-Mayorga. “We knew what kind of team we had.”
To start the season, the Bulls lost three of their first four games while not registering a goal in any of them.
“Through those games, we learned a lot about ourselves,” says senior goalkeeper Jackson Weyman. “We saw performances that we liked but the results didn’t go our way.”
To start the season, the Bulls actually lost three of their first four games while not registering a goal in any of them.
The results, however, would start to go their way after that.
In fact, in the last month of the season, the Bulls won five of their last six games before losing to FIU in the American Athletic Conference title game.
READ: USF women’s basketball brings in all-international freshman class
So how did the Bulls turn things around?
“It’s always about belief,” said Weyman.
The USF men’s soccer team cheers as they hear they are going to the NCAA Tournament.
The Bulls had and still have that same belief that has now carried them to an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
READ: Goals: USF’s new women’s lacrosse team aims for 5,000 at the first game
“We knew it was going to come. It was just a matter of time,” said Pineros-Mayorga.
Despite his team’s impressive turnaround, however, head coach Bob Butehorn says he is still looking for something more out of his squad.
Despite his team’s impressive turnaround, however, head coach Bob Butehorn says he is still looking for something more out of his squad.
“We knew it was going to come. It was just a matter of time. I keep telling them that they have another gear to their game,” said Butehorn.
It’s another gear the Bulls haven’t found yet.
READ: New collaboration pays off at USF and MacDill Air Force Base
But what better time to find it than in the NCAA Tournament?
Even though the USF men’s soccer team did not score a single goal in their first four games, they are headed to the NCAA Tournament.
“I think the mentality with this next game is just to go and really chase where they can go with this thing,” Butehorn stated.
Now, the Bulls are finding the back of the net regularly. So maybe that next gear isn’t too far off.
The Bulls begin NCAA Tournament play Thursday night at 7:30 at home against Hofstra in the first round.
.