Dwyer deflects credit for scoring success

Posted Oct 12, 2011 by Adam Adkins

Updated Oct 12, 2011 at 09:23 PM

The way Dom Dwyer sees it, he might have the easiest job on the University of South Florida men’s soccer team.

Dwyer had scored 10 goals through his first 11 games with the Bulls entering Wednesday night’s home matchup with DePaul, but as good as the junior forward looks on paper, he steadfastly maintains it’s only because of the play of those around him.

“They do all the hard work,” Dwyer said of his teammates. “They fight, they battle, they get deliveries in the box. I feel like they work so hard and make everything else and I’m the one who just jumps over touches in the goal and I get all the credit and the celebration.

“I feel like 99 percent of the credit needs to go to the other players and the coaches, because they’re the stars of the team and do the work.”

Even if scoring goals is only 1 percent of the equation, few in the country are doing it better than Dwyer, who was the nation’s most prolific goal-scorer at the junior college level last season (37 goals) and earned NJCAA Player of the Year honors after leading Tyler Junior College to a national title. His goal total is tops in the Big East Conference and is tied for eighth nationally, and it’s the most in a season for a USF player since Jordan Seabrook had 14 in 2005.

Dwyer scored three times last week to help the Bulls to a pair of victories, one in a 2-0 win against Florida Gulf Coast and two in a 3-2 win against St. John’s. He was named the Big East Conference Offensive Player of the Week for the first time this season.

“I think it comes from being on a good team,” Dwyer said of his penchant for finding the back of the net. “This team is special.”

USF entered Wednesday matchup with Big East foe DePaul 4-0-1 in its past five games, with all four victories coming against nationally ranked opponents. But as good as the Bulls (7-2-2, 2-0-1 in Big East) have been against some of the nation’s top teams, they struggled earlier in the year against a few not in the Top 25 discussion, namely a 2-1 home loss to Saint Louis (2-7-1) and a 3-3 draw against Dartmouth (4-4-2).

Dwyer can’t put his finger on why the Bulls stumbled against opponents they probably should have defeated, but he feels this team is ready for the stretch run.

“I feel like every one on this team is ready to die for this team, to put their life on the line,” Dwyer said. “You see Kyle (Nicholls) in the last game, he’s diving with his face in front of the ball. That commitment is coming from everyone, and everyone’s working for each other and everyone wants to win for each other.

“We want to win every single game and we know how important it is now, and I feel like we’re on our way to doing that.”

MILLER WINS AGAIN: Three events, two victories. Not a bad start for women’s golfer Christina Miller.

Miller, a sophomore transfer from Mississippi, finished atop the leader board at the USF/Waterlefe Invitational, shooting a combined 3-over at the 54-hole event that wrapped up Tuesday. Miller also won in her USF debut at the Golfweek Challenge a month ago, and between the two wins she finished in a tie for third at the rain-shortened Nittany Lion Invitational.

USF also got Top 10 finishes from Amy West (second, one stroke back of Miller), Shena Yang (sixth) and Kelli Pry (tied for seventh) to win the USF/Waterlefe Invitational by 17 strokes.

BULLS BITS: Softball coach Ken Eriksen is back with the U.S. Women’s National Team preparing for the XVI Pan American Games, which begin Monday in Guadalajara, Mexico. Eriksen, who guided Team USA to gold at the World Cup of Softball VI in July, will try to keep improve on the American squad’s impressive streak of six straight gold medals at the Pan Am Games. … The volleyball team (8-10, 4-1 in Big East) notched five-set wins against conference foes Connecticut and St. John’s over the weekend, and Claire Lessinger’s squad now is just two wins shy of matching last season’s win total with 10 regular-season contests remaining.