[SOUTH FLORIDA-FLORIDA GULF COAST] Florida Gulf Coast beat a ranked team for the first time in the program’s four-year history when it downed No. 13 SouthFlorida, 2-1, in Tampa.
USF was coming off a win over No. 1 Akron in pre-season but was dominated by FGCU, which finished with a 23-9 edge in shots.
The Bulls fell behind,2-0, to the Eagles and could never catch up.
“I’m really proud of the guys for coming out ready to go and earning this win,” said FGCU coach Bob Butehorn. “USF is a tremendous team that will make a lot of noise this season so this is a big win for us. We feel really good about where we are this early in the season, butwe have a long season ahead of us that I’m really excited for.”
Sophomore Deion Jones, playing in his hometown, was the hero with theassist on the game’s first goal by freshman Ryan Price and scored the eventual game-winner.
The game produced 10 yellow cards and a red cardto USF’s Hasani Sinclair in the 54th minute.
Four minutes later, Jones found Price in the center of the goal for a diving header thatresulted in a 1-0 lead.
Less than three minutes later, Jones struck again, drilling a shot into the upper part of the net from 12 yards out.
USF’s