Houston Falls Short in Thriller at No. 20/17 USF

Thursday, October 18

Tampa, Fl.

6:00 p.m. CT

University of Houston

7-8-3, 3-3-1

USF

11-2-0, 6-1-0

HOU

USF

Photo by: Stephen Pinchback

10/18/2018 9:22:00 PM | Soccer

Box Score

Cougars notch two game-tying goals in conference clash

TAMPA – Two second half goals weren't enough as the University of Houston Soccer team dropped a 3-2 decision to No. 20/17 USF Thursday evening.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Cougars came out strong defensively, defending multiple scoring attempts from the high-scoring USF offense. The Bulls would find an opening late in the first half, scoring inside the 36^th minute to take a 1-0 lead at the break.
Down 1-0, Houston continued to find openings in the USF defense, while cutting short USF scoring chances. Late inside the 49^th minute Jazmin Grant would handle a long pass from goalkeeper, Rachel Estopare and beat the USF goalkeeper to tie the match 1-1. Less than a minute later, the Bulls would respond and take a 2-1 lead.
Houston never wavered and continued to showcase its aggressive style of play. With under 30 minutes left in the game Mia Brascia connected with Desiree Bowen for Houston's second goal of the game to tie things up once again. A little less than six minutes later USF made its way downfield, scoring the final goal of the contest inside the 68^th minute to take the lead for good.
Bowen led Houston with three shots, two of which were on target.
Rachel Estopare posted four saves on 17 shots faced.

OTHER NOTABLES

Houston drops to 7-8-2 overall and 3-3-1 in the American Athletic Conference.
With her eighth assist of the season, Brascia is now the single-season assist leader at Houston. She is also tied for ninth all-time in assist at Houston.
Estopare recorded the first assist of her career, on the opening goal.
Grant now has five goals this season and 10 for her career
With 18 goals, Bowen is now fourth all-time in goals scored at Houston and needs one more to be third all-time.
Houston is the only other opponent that USF has faced, besides Auburn to score multiple goals against the Bulls.

UP NEXT
The Cougars will head to Orlando where they will face No. 24 UCF on Sunday at 12 p.m.

CELEBRATING 20 YEARS
The Houston Soccer program is excited to celebrate 20 years of Houston soccer this season. The team unveiled a logo on June 14 that represents 20 years of Houston soccer. The logo is featured on one of the three uniforms that the Cougars will wear throughout the season.

TICKETS
The Houston Athletics Ticket Office is proud to offer season tickets for the 2018-19 athletic season. For just $25, Cougar fans can purchase one season ticket, which allows season-long general admission entrance to all Houston Soccer matches. To purchase a season ticket, click HERE.

FOLLOW THE COUGARS!
Fans can keep up with the latest in University of Houston Cougar athletics by following us on Facebook (Facebook.com/HoustonAthletics), Twitter (@UHCougars), Instagram (houstoncougars) and YouTube.com (Youtube.com/UHAthletics). In addition, the soccer team has established its own official Facebook (Facebook.com/UHCougarSoccer) and Twitter pages (@UHCougarSoccer), which provide regular updates on the team and live results during home matches.