CHARLOTTE – With Charlotte holding on to a 16-15 lead in the waning minutes over league-leader South Florida, defensive captain Gianna Cutaia had one request of head coach Clare Short, "Put me back in."
 
So, with 1:15 remaining and USF attack Maggie Newton about to receive a ball mere steps from 49er keeper Katie Ling, it was fittingly Cutaia's defensive stick work that disrupted the pass and sent the Niners on a counterattack that would ultimately put the game away and give Charlotte their first conference victory in program history.
 
"Just to be able to get that turnover, get that stop, and get that ball back up field was awesome," Short said. "Her resiliency through the entire game – she's constantly hurting – was fantastic. I subbed her off, and she came right back to me and said she could go two more sets. And, thank goodness we did."
 
The 17-16 victory snapped South Florida's (9-3, 3-1 American) six-game win streak and sent Charlotte (6-7, 1-3 American) into raucous jubilation. For Short, it was the culmination of everything the team had been preparing for as they hosted their first-ever night game.
 
"It's been building. We have been so disciplined these last few weeks, so to finally get that paid off, it's just such a great reward. The girls deserve it."
 
In what may be one of the few times a six-goal performance by attack Kylie Gioia could possibly be overshadowed, the play of Ling in goal may have done just that. Her counterpart, USF's Paige Pagano, was the league's top keeper entering the night with a league-best .532 save percentage. But, time and time again on Friday night it was Ling turning away the opposition to the tune of 15 saves and standing strong to give her team the victory.
 
"(Katie) has been great these last few games against really tough opponents," Short said. "She gets the job done when we really need it, and we really needed it today."

Charlotte jumped out to an early 6-1 lead, stunning the visiting Bulls in the process, including a pair of Isa Torres strikes. From there, it was a game of runs as South Florida chipped into the lead to make it 6-4.
 
A 10-7 halftime lead for the Niners ballooned into a 13-7 lead halfway through the third quarter, and then South Florida went to work scoring six of the next seven goals to make it a 14-13 game with 10 minutes remaining in the fourth.
 
Gioia added her fifth and sixth goals of the night to give Charlotte some cushion back to 16-13, but consecutive goals from USF made it a tight contest with 3:26 to go.
 
Then, Cutaia's defensive heroics resulted in an open-net counterattack goal for Hailey O'Donoghue with 23 seconds remaining to all but close the door.