TAMPA ? The No. 8 University of South Florida men's soccer team (15-4-2 overall, 7-3-1 BIG EAST) will host the UNC Greensboro Spartans (10-11-2 overall, 2-5-0 Southern Conference) in the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday, Nov. 29 at 7:30 p.m. at USF Soccer Stadium.
“It's about us and focusing on our training,” said USF head coach George Kiefer. "We look at what we need to work on to get better and we really haven't looked at too many teams. Just focusing on ourselves.”
On Tuesday night, Zak Boggs scored a pair of goals to power USF to a 2-1 win over Harvard in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
It was the first time in Boggs' USF career that he has scored two goals in a game. It increased his season total to five and ties him with Jordan Seabrook for the team lead.
It is the third time in the last four games that a USF player has scored two goals. In the BIG EAST quarterfinals against Georgetown it was Seabrook with a pair of scores and in the BIG EAST semifinals against Notre Dame it was Francisco Aristeguieta.
The Bulls are 10-0-1 at the USF Soccer Stadium this season and have allowed only four goals on their home pitch.
It marks the second consecutive season that USF has reached the Sweet 16 and third time in USF history.
Saturday will be the fourth meeting between the two teams. The Bulls trail the series at 1-2-0, with all three meetings taking place during the regular season. One meeting was played a neutral site, one at USF and one at UNCG Soccer Stadium. UNCG won at USF, 4-3, in the last meeting during the 2002 season.
UNC Greensboro advanced thanks to a 2-1 overtime road upset of No. 9-national seed Loyola. UNC Greensboro defeated Duke, 2-0, in the first round. ESPN.com has dubbed UNCG, "the Cinderella team," of the NCAA Tournament.
The Spartans are led by Tebatso Manyama, who leads the Spartans in scoring with 12 points on a team-best five goals and two assists. Goalkeeper Nate Berry has allowed just three goals in five postseason matches, including a run to the Southern Conference Tournament title.
Fans will be able to listen to the game on 1010 sports and on GoUSFBulls.com with Jim Henderson and Mike Pepper calling the play-by-play. USF BullsVision Radio is the live streaming audio platform on GoUSFBulls.com, which is available to all fans at no cost during the tournament.
Individual tickets ($7/$3) can be purchased at the gates starting one hour prior to each home game. Group tickets can be purchased through 1-800-GoBulls.
