The Bulls stomp out the Golden Hurricane

Sports editor Jaralynn Tammi Morellano discusses the fall of men’s soccer.
The University of Tulsa vs. The University of South Florida men’s soccer match was plagued with unfortunate luck for the Golden Hurricane from the start when bad weather and lightning forced the Wednesday night game to be postponed until Thursday morning. The Golden Hurricane ended the game with their first conference loss, putting their record at 4-4-2 overall and 2-1-0 in the American Athletic Conference. The Bulls gained their first conference win, their record standing at 3-6-0 overall and 2-1-0 in The American.
“It was a game where we were unfortunate,” said TU head coach Tom McIntosh. “I felt it unfortunate that we conceded that last goal. But I thought our guys played well and worked hard. There are things we could have done better. But, I’m still very proud of them.”
As the game started, SFU wasted no time applying hard pressure on TU’s defensive line. In minute eight of the game, John Anderson played a one-two pass with Oscar Resano to infiltrate the Golden Hurricane’s backline. Making it into the goal box, Anderson wasted no time sending the ball towards the far right end, successfully meeting the net.
TU refused to stay behind for too long, and shortly in the 13th minute, Yuki Sekiguchi was able to feed Nils Orywo deep on the left side of the Bull’s half. Orywo sent a high ball into the box, which Jared Aguilar sent past the goalkeeper for the equalizer.
Both teams fought valiantly to pull ahead, with goalkeeper Alex Lopez forced to make two saves while SFU’s goalkeeper, Alan Horrocks, made one. Though both teams joined in a fierce battle for possession and scoring opportunities, the score remained deadlocked at 1-1 by the end of the first half.
In the second half, the teams remained neck-and-neck for the majority of play. Frustrating for both teams, the game got more physical, the final foul count being 13-21. One foul brought TU a penalty kick by the half line, but the ball found only Bull players, and TU was back on the defensive.
With the Bulls having possession for 59% of the game, they brought TU’s defense into a handful of scary situations. A corner kick from SFU brought Resano to attempt a daring bicycle kick that, if not for the last-minute jump by Lopez, could have found itself into TU’s net.
The Bulls were able to drag TU into another sticky situation when an offensive drive into the goal box led to the ball straying toward TU’s goal. Luck worsened for TU as their defenders slid to intercept the ball, only to send it barreling into their goal, giving a point to SFU in the 74th minute of the game.
With only eight minutes left in the game, TU was desperate for a scoring opportunity, sending balls for Takayoshi Wyatt whenever possible. They thought they had tied the game when a cross was shot past the goalkeeper by Paul Richnow with a slide. They were proved wrong when SFU defender, Nicolas Scargle, was in a great position to clear the attempt out of the box, shutting down TU once again.
Despite their enormous efforts, the Golden Hurricane could not further their score, and the game ended 2-1 in favor of the Bulls. SFU will return to Florida to host the University of North Carolina Charlotte. The University of Tulsa resumed action yesterday at the University of Memphis.