Bulls fall to West Virginia

 TAMPA- The University of South Florida women’s soccer team fought valiantly on Senior Day at USF Soccer Stadium, but the No. 15 West Virginia Mountaineers proved to be too much, as the Bulls fell 2-0 in a game aired locally on Bright House Sports Network.

In a pregame ceremony, Bulls’ seniors Lindsay Brauer, captains Jeannette Dyer and Melanie Sutherland and Ashley Seib were honored, along with their parents, for their time in green and gold.

Dyer ends her career tied for sixth place on the Bulls all-time start list, with 58 career starts, while Brauer, who was unable to play her senior year due to a medical condition, ranks fifth in career points with 32 and sixth with 13 career goals.

Despite a strong defensive effort in the first half, the Mountaineers took a 1-0 lead into the halftime on Morgan Betscher’s redirect shot at the 32:12 mark. Carolyn Blank and Amanda Cicchini assisted on the play.



With 25 minutes remaining in regulation, the Bulls strung together a series of offensive opportunities but were unable to deliver an equalizer as shots from Sutherland and freshman Gina Pacheo were corralled by the Mountaineer keeper.

West Virginia would deliver the finisher in the 87th minute as Cicchini would beat Bulls goalkeeper Mallori Lofton-Malachi and find the back of the net on an assisted goal to give the Mountaineers a 2-0 lead with just minutes to play.



Lofton-Malachi was strong for the Bulls, making 12 saves, many of diving variety, pushing her season total to 118 saves which places her at the top of the record books. She surpassed Breck Bankester for most saves in a single season in USF history. Bankester set the mark at 115 in 2003. The Philadelphia native sits in third place on the USF all-time career saves list with 199 stops.

With the loss, the Bulls finish the 2008 season with a 7-8-3 record and 3-7-1 record in the BIG EAST.