TAMPA - The University of South Florida men's soccer team ended its 2010 spring season tonight against one of the great names in all of American professional soccer - the FC Tampa Bay Rowdies - who bring professional soccer back to Tampa after a seven-year absence. And if the estimated crowd of about 2,600 is any indication, college and pro soccer in the Bay area is alive and well. The soccer faithful were treated to a hard-fought 1-1 tie in what was also the final exhibition match for the Rowdies before opening their regular season on April 16 at Baltimore.
"I think tonight was a great soccer festival for us," said USF head coach George Kiefer. "It's great to have a pro team back in the area, and let's face it, this crowd helped make it a good night. It was a great experience for our guys to come out and have a chance to play against them."
Both teams came out in the first half and would go back and forth with no real opportunities in the first 15 minutes of play.
The Rowdies would eventually win the shots battle in the first half of action outshooting USF 8-2. It was the Bulls, however, that had the two best opportunities to score when Bernardo Anor put a shot on goal in the 24th minute only to have Rowdies keeper Daryl Sattler record the save. Hasani Sinclair then had an opportunity from the middle of the 18 box in the 25th minute but put the shot the ball just over the cross bar.
Despite the Tampa Bay advantage, USF would get on the board and take a 1-0 lead into the break on an unusual play. The Bulls' Sinclair would dribble the ball from the midfield line to the top of the 18 box and then passing it to Anor. Anor then made a move to the right side of the 18 before trying to turn the corner only to lose the ball, which was picked up by the Rowdies' Takuya Yamada. Yamada attempted to clear the ball back to Sattler only to knock it past his keeper and into the goal.
In the second half, Sinclair would once again try to get the Bulls on the board from 22 yards out only to have Sattler go down and make a save on the hard grounder in the 56th minute. Sattler would follow that up with a save on Javed Mohammed from the right side in the 74th minute.
FC Tampa Bay got its first opportunity in some time, in the 79th minute, when Mozzi Gyorio put a shot on net that went just wide right of the goal.
It wouldn't take long after Gyoria's attempt for the Rowdies to break through when Kwame Adjeman-Pamboe scored off an assist from Aaron King knotting the game at 1-1 in the 85th minute, a score that would stand for the rest of the match.
In all Kiefer seemed to be pleased with the way his team looks after the spring season.
"I think that a lot of the stuff that we have been working on this spring, as far as extending our pressure - especially tonight against a pro team - I think that there were times that we were very good at it," said Kiefer. "I thought that there were times that we frazzled them a little bit. So if we can build on that aspect of our game going into the fall we will be going in the right direction. We definitely have a core group of guys that are hungry and are not satisfied with where were finished last year, and want to try to take this program to new heights."
Tonight wasn't only about the game on the field, as much as it was about both teams reaching out to the community. About 250 children enjoyed an hour-long youth soccer clinic that was put on by USF's coaching staff and some of the former Tampa Bay Rowdies greats prior to the game at the USF Soccer Training Ground. Following the game fans were treated to an autograph session with both teams.
"It was great that the Rowdies helped out with the clinic tonight," said Kiefer. "It was great for both programs as we all try to build a great relationship with each other and the community."
