Colleges: No.5 Notre Dame squashes USF's hopes

The University of South Florida women’s soccer team was looking forward to the challenge of facing No.5 Notre Dame in the Big East tournament quarterfinals.

With half-an-hour of the contest gone, and the Fighting Irish’s Melissa Henderson having already scored a hat trick, the Bulls may have been wondering if they should have been careful what they wished for, as they saw their season come to a crashing end. Notre Dame added another pair of goals before halftime, and advanced to the tournament semifinals with a 5-0 victory at Alumni Stadium.

“That was a really well-executed and decisive effort for us,” Notre Dame head coach Randy Waldrum said. “When you get into the conference tournament, and particularly when you're coming in off a bye while the other team has had a chance to play already, there's a concern that you might come out flat or unfocused. But we were sharp right from the opening kickoff, we got the early goal and we kept putting the pressure on them.”

Notre Dame took the lead in the 11th minute, as Julie Scheidler’s cross from the right found Henderson at the penalty spot, and the Irish’s leading scorer turned and fired home. The Irish doubled their lead five minutes later, an angled ball from the right side of the penalty area from Lauren Fowlkes finding Henderson for a volleyed finish.

Henderson completed her hat trick in the 29th minute, capitalizing when Bulls goalkeeper Mallori Lofton-Malachi was unable to take a cross cleanly to score her 11th of the season.

Fowlkes then scored her eighth of the season before Lofton-Malachi was substituted for Gaby Garton, a disappointing end to a standout career for the Bulls senior goalkeeper. Garton allowed the Irish’s fifth goal, scored by Ellen Jantsch in the 39th minute, and made four saves after coming on.

While the end to their season came in disappointing fashion, the season as a whole should be viewed as a success for the Bulls.

For a start, they finished the season 9-8-3 overall, the first time the Bulls have finished above .500 for a season since 1999. In addition, of the team's seniors, only Lofton-Malachi saw major playing time for the Bulls this season, giving Coach Denise Schilte-Brown players who progressed greatly over the course of this season to continue to build around in the spring and next season.

Foremost in these is the sophmomore strike duo of Chelsea Klotz and Noelle Pineiro, who combined for 16 goals this season, and junior Angelique Waller, who was outstanding in defense for the Bulls all season. Add in the experience gained by players like Gina Pacheco, Bahar Sansar, Rehana Murani and Taylor Patterson, all of whom could represent Canada in the CONCACAF qualifying tournament for the 2010 Under-20 World Cup in Germany, and the Bulls appear to have a bright future.

Colleges: Waller's drive pushing Bulls to success

TAMPA – To play college athletics at any level takes a certain amount of competitiveness.

A lot of the time, that competitiveness is either there, or it isn’t. In the case of South Florida’s Angelique Waller, it’s been there from the very start of her Bulls career, and it is now helping fuel the Bulls as they try to spring a big upset on Sunday afternoon at No.6 Notre Dame in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament.

Not that Waller really thinks too much about what she’s doing when she’s out on the pitch.

“Most of the time I’m just thinking of playing my hardest for everyone on my team,” Waller said. “I don’t want to give anyone short of what I have to offer, so I just play hard every single time I’m on the field because I know I have a talent not many people have.”

In games, Waller’s competitiveness can be seen in the way she competes for every 50/50 challenge, and isn’t afraid to take on the responsibility of defending an opponent’s best attacker. But it is practice that her drive really comes though, according to Bulls coach Denise Schilte-Brown.

“A lot of people don’t notice her competitiveness,” Schilte-Brown said. “It’s hard unless you’re out here day-in and day-out to see how competitive she is, but she wants to win, and she uses that innate desire to get it done.”

Waller’s competitiveness has clearly impacted the team as it has gone through the season. A vocal leader, she isn’t afraid of pushing her teammates on in practice if she feels the effort required for success is absent.

“For sure, because when we’re practicing and someone’s not giving everything they’re capable of giving, I’ll get on them and make sure they start working harder,” she said. “I think most people know, especially in practice when they’re on my team, they know I’m going to yell at people if they’re not playing their hardest.”

Waller believes that attitude developed from her time in high school at Stoneman Douglas High in Parkland, Fla. The Eagles have become a women’s soccer powerhouse this decade, winning four consecutive state soccer titles while Waller was on the team, and adding a fifth the season after she graduated.

“I think that’s really where I got so competitive,” Waller said, “because our team wouldn’t sell short of anything but a state championship, so that just grew on me.”

That attitude has rubbed off on her teammates. Bulls goalkeeper Mallori Lofton-Malachi, who has become one of Waller’s best friends on the team, remains impressed with the way Waller approaches the game.

“She’s just an awesome player,” Lofton-Malachi said. “People knock her down, she gets up. She’s an awesome athlete, I don’t think I’ve played with anyone like her before.”

Waller takes the same approach away from the pitch. An engineering major, she enjoys finding new ways to challenge herself physically and mentally. Sunday’s game in South Bend, Ind. against the Fighting Irish is a challenge she is looking forward to.

“I’m really excited,” Waller said. “I really wanted an opportunity to play them this year because I know they’re such a great team. We’ve got to go up there and go for it.”

Colleges: Bulls focusing forward on Blue Demons

TAMPA – It didn’t take long for South Florida's women to put Sunday’s disappointing loss to Syracuse behind them.

The Bulls appeared eager, and ready, for Thursday night’s Big East tournament first round game against DePaul as they practiced on Tuesday afternoon. According to Bulls assistant coach Adam Sayers, the team has been looking forward to getting back to the tournament, and is excited to have a home game against the Blue Demons.

“Our goal all season had been to get into the Big East tournament, and we achieved that goal, so rather than focus on last weekend, we’re looking ahead to what is a very exciting home game,” Sayers said. “Getting to host in itself is a big achievement, so we’re looking forward to the game, the players are looking forward to the game. There were a lot of positives to pull out of last weekend, results aside, and we’re going to focus on those and fit them into the DePaul game.”

South Florida and DePaul didn’t face each other in the regular season, but those within the Bulls camp are expecting a physical game that will require the Bulls to maintain their discipline if they are to move on to face Notre Dame on Sunday. The Bulls are excited, though, to get a home game to start the playoffs after finishing with four consecutive road games to end the regular season.

“Knowing it’s a home game, we’re just really excited,” defender Angelique Waller said. “We get to gain our confidence back after a loss away, so I think we’re going to play as a team and get the win this week and go on the road and beat Notre Dame.”

PENALTY PRACTICE: Moving into the postseason means no more ties, and the prospect of penalty shootouts if teams can’t settle things in regulation or overtime.

The Bulls finished practice with a round of spot kicks as Coach Denise Schilte-Brown began formulating who might be called upon should a game go to penalties. Also getting practice was Bulls goalkeeper Mallori Lofton-Malachi as she tried to stop her teammate’s shots, and she was in a good mood after practice when asked if she had any specific things she tried to do when facing penalties.

“If I told you, then I’d have to kill you,” she said with a straight face before breaking into a smile. “I just try to stay as confident as possible because in the end goalkeepers aren’t supposed to be the ones scoring the goals, we’re not really expected to save them, so you just try to do the best you can in there and try to stop some.”

PROPER PREPARATION: With the bulk of the Bulls’ squad being underclassmen, there are only a handful of players who have competed in the Big East tournament before. Lofton-Malachi and Waller are two who have, and Lofton-Malachi said the most important thing for the side to do is make sure it takes care of what it wants to try and do in the game.

“I think we’re really focused on ourselves,” Lofton-Malachi said. “(DePaul is) probably as excited to be in the Big East tournament as much as we are again. I think me, Angelique and (Lindsey Krawower) are the only ones, with a couple of other people, who have been in the Big East tournament first round, so it’s exciting for everyone, but I think we’re more focused on ourselves and what we need to do to beat them and play Notre Dame on Sunday.”

Sayers added that from the moment the Bulls knew they would be playing on Thursday, the team’s focus has been on preparing properly to ensure a good start to the game and advancement into the tournament quarterfinals.

“Everything from the end of the previous game leads up to those first 20 minutes (of the game),” Sayers said. “So we’ll make sure the preparation is correct physically in terms of the training we do leading up to the game and the warm-up, we’ll make sure that’s to the required standard. Nutritionally we’ll make sure everything is in place so they’re as fueled as possible going into the game, and then we’ll implement the game plan that we’ve set out.”

Colleges: Bulls drop second straight, miss out on tournament bye

South Florida had its eyes on a bye and home game in the Big East tournament quarterfinals next weekend.

The Bulls will get a home game to open the playoffs, but it will be against DePaul on Thursday night as a late goal by Tina Romagnuolo gave Syracuse a 3-2 victory on Sunday afternoon, dropping the Bulls into fourth place in the Big East American division standings.

Romagnuolo gave the Orange the lead in the 11th minute, scoring from the left side of the penalty area after being found by a cross from the right by Casey Ramirez. Syracuse the doubled its lead in the 53rd minute as Tessa MacDougal converted from the spot after a USF handball in its penalty area.

The Bulls hit back, Noelle Pineiro proving critical as she earned assists on both Bulls’ goals. Chelsea Klotz was the first recipient of Pineiro’s creativity, scoring her eighth goal of the season in the 64th minute, and Angelique Waller tied the game with a header from Pineiro’s corner 13 minutes later.

But the Bulls couldn’t complete the comeback as Romagnuolo picked the ball up off a throw-in, beat her defender and shot home for her ninth goal of the season.

The win was the second straight for the Bulls, who will need to regain their form quickly as they prepare to face the Blue Demons. DePaul lost 1-0 to Villanova in its final game of the regular season on Sunday.