TAMPA (November 5, 2009) – The University of South Florida men’s soccer team took the first step in defending its BIG EAST Conference tournament championship with a 2-1 win over Marquette in the first round of this year’s tournament at the USF Soccer Stadium.

The Bulls (13-3-2) now hit the road to take on Notre Dame on Sunday, Nov. 8 at 1 p.m. in the quarterfinals of the BIG EAST tournament. The winner of that game will advance to the tournament semifinals in Morgantown, W.Va. on Nov. 13 at 5:30 p.m.

Jorge Mora got the Bulls on the board first with a left-footed shot from about 13 yards out off an assist from Hasani Sinclair in the 15th minute of play.

Sebastian Thuriere would then connect on what would eventually be the game-winning goal in the 77th minute. Zak Boggs found Javed Mohammed crossed the ball, from about 30 yards out, on the left side of the field to Thuriere who headed the ball into the back of the net.

Marquette’s Adam Lysak would then score his second goal of the season – both coming against the Bulls – off an assist from Chris Madsen with 10 minutes left in the contest; however the Golden Eagles could not get any closer the rest of the night.

Marquette, who ends the season 4-11-3, got six saves from goalkeeper Matt Pyzdrowski.

Jeff Attinella had five saves for USF.