CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL
VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS
PHOTO GALLERY
CHAMPIONSHIP BRACKET
TAMPA, Fla. – USF is playing host to the American Athletic Conference Women’s Soccer Championship and is taking full advantage of playing in front of the home crowd. The No. 3-seeded Bulls shut out No. 7-seeded East Carolina, ending the Pirates’ inaugural campaign in The American just short of the final game.
Jackie Simpson, a stalwart of the Bulls defense, scored her second goal of the season 28 minutes into the game. The score electrified the home crowd at Corbett Soccer Stadium when Cristina Ferral crossed an Olivia Chance corner kick to Simpson, who headed the ball past Pirates goalkeeper Erika Lenns.
Opening the second half, a foul was called on ECU in the 47th minute of play, giving USF a penalty kick. Senior Demi Stokes took the kick, slamming it past the keeper on her left as Lenns dove right. It was the fourth goal of the season for Stokes, a native of South Shields, England.
In the 60th minute, junior Jessica Clark notched the third Bulls’ goal from nearly 30 yards out. The unassisted power strike was Clark’s first career goal.
In its first season in The American, East Carolina took home the Fair Play trophy, which is awarded to the team with the fewest accumulated fouls and yellow and red cards in conference play. The Pirates’ Kelley Johnson and Kendall Frey, who were both named to the All-Conference Second Team, each had a shot in the 3-0 loss.
Earlier in the week, Chance and Stokes were named to the American Athletic Conference’s First and Second All-Conference teams, respectively, and will look to give the home fans a seventh consecutive Bulls win in Sunday’s championship match against the UConn Huskies.
The championship game will air live on ESPNU at 11 a.m. ET. You can also follow the action all weekend on our championship central page at
www.theamerican.org/wsoccer.