USF’s Blais plugs hole in goal

Posted Dec 2, 2011 by Adam Adkins

Updated Dec 2, 2011 at 11:03 PM

All-American Jeff Attinella’s graduation after last season left a gaping hole in goal for the University of South Florida men’s soccer team, but Chris Blais has been a worthy replacement.

The senior transfer from Michigan has helped USF to the cusp of the program’s first appearance in the College Cup Final Four. The seventh-seeded Bulls play for a spot in the season’s final weekend Saturday at second-seeded Creighton in an NCAA tournament quarterfinal match.

“That’s been huge for us all season long, not just how good he is in the goal but his leadership,” USF coach George Kiefer said of Blais, who has started all 20 games and posted a 0.86 goals-against average.

“And even more importantly now, in the NCAA tournament, he seems really comfortable with managing these games and help managing the players in between breaks, overtimes, halftime. (He) just has a real good presence about himself right now.”

Last season, Blais was in goal for Michigan’s run to the Final Four, proving he can come up big in clutch situations. But as good as Blais has been at deflecting shots from the opposition, he’s equally successful in deflecting credit for the Bulls’ success.

“I think it’s like a good quarterback that takes care of his line,” Kiefer said. “As a goalkeeper, sometimes you just want to look for all the mistakes in front of you and get on guys, but you’re not rewarding them for the good, hard work and the good plays. So, he has a good way of leading.”

“I think we all feed off each other,” said Blais, who has allowed no more than one goal in each of the past seven games and two goals or more only three times this season. “I think they give me confidence, I give them confidence.”

Blais and the Bulls’ defense will need to be on top of its game Saturday.

The Bluejays are the nation’s stingiest team, allowing just five goals this season and no more than one in any game. Creighton’s Brian Holt, the Missouri Valley Conference goalkeeper of the year, is tied for the most shutouts in NCAA history (42).

“Usually in big games you don’t need to try and go be a superstar,” Blais said. “You just need to go and do your job and you end up usually playing well.”