The Scarlet Knights are 4-2-1 all-time against USF, including winning three of the last four meetings since the Bulls joined the BIG EAST Conference for the 2005 season.

 

“We were very disappointed in our performance Wednesday night [against Villanova],” said Rutgers head coach Bob Reasso. “But we did get into the BIG EAST Tournament and that was our goal from the beginning.

 

“We are facing a good South Florida team. We’ve had a great rivalry with them. They’re having a great season and it would be nothing better for us than to beat them and go into the BIG EAST Tournament on a positive note, so that’s where our focus is.”

 

This past Wednesday RU (7-9-0, 4-6-0 BIG EAST) took on Villanova, losing 3-0. Sophomores Robbie McLarney (Londonderry, N.H.) and Gaetano Panuccio (Mechanicsburg, P.A.) each had a shot on goal. Villanova scored once in the first half and twice in the second to earn the three-goal victory.

 

Rutgers is led in goals by junior midfielder Yannick Salmon (Westbury, N.Y.) and sophomore forward Ibrahim Kamara (North Brunswick, N.J.). Salmon and Kamara each have six goals and one assist on the year.  The assists leader for the Knights is sophomore midfielder/forward Bryant Knibbs (Pine Bush, N.Y.) with four on the year.

 

In their last match, South Florida took on BIG EAST opponent DePaul. The Bulls won the contest 1-0. USF had seven shots on goal in the match on 16 shot attempts. The Bulls took the lead in the 30th minute on a goal by senior forward Zak Boggs and never looked back.  Junior goalkeeper Jeff Attinella had six saves in the shutout, South Florida’s seventh of the year.

 

The Bulls are led by redshirt sophomore midfielder Bernardo Anor in goal scoring with five, followed by freshman forward Hasani Sinclair with four.  Junior defender Javed Mohammed leads USF with eight assists, which is good enough for second in the BIG EAST.  Attinella started all 16 games for the Bulls in goal and has a 0.63 goals-against-average on the year with 84 saves.