TAMPA, Florida – Top-seeded USF advanced to the final of the 2020 American Athletic Conference Women’s Soccer Championship with a 1-0 win over No. 4 seed East Carolina Thursday night (April 15) at Corbett Soccer Stadium in Tampa, Fla.
 
USF (8-0-2) advances to face No. 3 seed Cincinnati in the championship final on Saturday, April 17 at 2 p.m. ET/1 p.m. CT. The final will air live on ESPN+.
 
After some early Pirate pressure, the lone goal came in the 12^th minute after an attempted clearance bounced off an East Carolina defender into the net for an own goal.
 
The rest of the first half was a physical one as East Carolina (3-6-2) had eight first-half fouls, while USF had 61 percent of the possession.
 
USF continued to have the majority of the possession in the second half. English made a diving save in the 58^th minute to keep it a one-goal contest, while late in the game, Syndy Nasello had two shots saved by English after some nifty footwork.
 
In the regular season meeting on March 7, the Bulls and Pirates were scoreless for the first 83 minutes before Meghan Cavanaugh scored to give USF the 1-0 victory.
 
USF will look for its third tournament championship in four seasons after winning in 2017 and 2019.