Athletics Women’s soccer earns conference championship for 5th straight season THE USF WOMEN’S SOCCER TEAM captured the 2021 American Athletic Conference regular-season championship with a 2-0 win over Temple, pushing the Bulls’ streak of seasons with a conference title to five and streak of consecutive conference titles to four. The Bulls have overall captured six titles in the last five seasons, including three regular-season crowns (2018, 2020, 2021) and three tournament trophies (2017, 2019, 2020). Head coach Denise Schilte-Brown’s soccer team had six student-athletes recognized in the 2021 American Athletic Conference annual awards, including Sydny Nasello, who was named the league’s offensive player of the year for the second consecutive season. The AAC Offensive Player of the Year has been a USF student-athlete in each of the last four seasons, with Olympic gold medalist Evelyne Viens, ’19, capturing the title in 2018 and 2019 and Nasello (Land O’ Lakes, Fla.) earning the honor in 2020 and 2021. The No. 22-ranked Bulls went on to secure a fifth straight NCAA Tournament appearance, hosting a first round game vs. NC State at Corbett Stadium. Unfortunately, that was a loss. - Photos and stories courtesy of USF ATHLETICS
Freshman Battie Sets NCAA kickoff return record THE USF FOOTBALL TEAM GOT ELECTRIC PLAYS from several players that had Raymond James Stadium roaring in a 54-42 shootout loss to first-place and No. 20-ranked Houston on Homecoming. The Bulls opened the game with a lightning bolt from freshman Brian Battie (no. 21, pictured at left), who caught the opening kickoff at the goal line and raced 100 yards for a touchdown. The Bay area native from Sarasota would go on to tie an NCAA record by doing it again in the second quarter, this time racing by the Cougars to give USF a 28-26 halftime lead with a 100-yard return. He joined Utah’s Reggie Dunn as the only two players in NCAA history to post a pair of 100-yard returns in the same game, Dunn doing it against California in 2012. For Battie, it marked his second and third 100-yard kickoff returns on the season. He became the first USF player in 18
UNIVERSITY of SOUTH FLORIDA
