Men's Soccer Falls to No. 16 University of South Florida, 6-1
Sept. 15, 2007
TAMPA, Fla. - The American University men's soccer team lost at 16th-ranked University of South Florida Saturday night, 6-1, at USF Soccer Stadium.
American looked good early, after giving up an early goal to USF, Karsten Smith (Huntington Station, N.Y./Walt Whitman) scored his first career goal. Each of American's goals - not counting an own goal - this season are the first goal of each players career. Daniel Shannon (Frederick, Md./Tuscarora) assisted on the goal.
Unfortunately for the Eagles, USF got a break on its next score. AU keeper Chris Sedlak (Valrico, Fla./Bloomingdale), playing near his hometown, had his hands on a shot, but lost his grip and it rolled in the net for the Bulls. That opened up the floodgates for the hosts.
"When you give gift goals to good teams in college soccer, you're going to lose games," AU Head Coach Todd West said. "We gave them two gift goals in the first half."
American trailed at halftime, 3-1, and a quick goal early in the second half by USF put the game out of reach.
The 6-1 loss was the worst loss for the Eagles since a 6-0 loss to Loyola (Md.) in 1992. It was only the second time since 1970 that AU has given up six or more goals.
"We played tentative, scared," West said. "Hopefully it was a learning process for a young team."
AU will look to rebound when it travels to James Madison University on Wednesday, Sept. 19. Game time is set for 7 p.m.
