Zebold: Bulls Open Stadium in Style With Win Over Tampa

[Brad]

Bulls Open Stadium in Style With Win Over Tampa

By TOM ZEBOLD

USF Senior Writer

TAMPA – Thunder and lightning failed to crash a historic University of South Florida soccer party Tuesday night.

T.J. Roehn scored the first-ever goal at USF’s new on-campus stadium after a 45-minute weather delay and the USF men’s soccer team capped off the opening of the venue with a 2-1 Rowdies Cup exhibition victory over the University of Tampa before a crowd of 1,440.

“We’d been working on this thing for seven years. We didn’t want to lose the opener,” USF men’s head coach George Kiefer said. “I think to get that off our back is good. Now we can just relax out here and get better and better.”

Before cheers filled the stands for the first time, uncooperative weather forced the ribbon cutting ceremony inside the USF athletics building.

Partying indoors wasn’t a problem.

“This is kind of fun, right? This is a little different,” said USF President Judy Genshaft, who drew a loud laugh from a room filled with Bulls donors, supporters and both soccer teams.

“We are thrilled with the venue of new athletic opportunities that we have,” Genshaft added.

Both head coaches used the celebration to not only thank their supporters, but to also share how special the ground-breaking experience has been.

“I’m so grateful to be a part of this,” USF women’s head coach Denise Schilte-Brown said. “It’s hard sometimes to really look around and really fathom that you get to be a part of something so great. Sometimes when I’m out in that new stadium and I look around I’m like, ‘Woo, how did this happen?’ ”

“As a coach you always want provide as much as you can for your team and you want them to know you’re fighting for them and working and trying to piece everything together to give them the environment to play in,” Kiefer said. “I know when they walk over the berm; they’re going to be walking out to one of the best facilities in college soccer.”

USF Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Doug Woolard agreed.

“It’s a venue where fans are going to be right on top of the action,” he said. “Berms are going to be filled with fans and students behind both goals. I think it’s going to the hardest place for opponents to play soccer than any place in the United States.”

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