1983 West Coast Conference Champions
Head Coach: Steve Negoesco
Overall Record: 19-6-0 WCC Record: 5-2-0
All-WCC Team: Cato Anderson, Ken Boardman, Vidar Larsen
Most Goals: Cato Anderson (13) Most Assists: Cato Anderson (12)
Most Points: Cato Anderson (38 – 13 goals, 12 assists) Goals Against Average: Mark Powell (1.46)
USF Hall-of-Famers: Erik Nielsen, Steve Negoesco
The 1983 Dons won the West Coast Athletic Conference postseason tournament despite youth and inexperience. USF Head Coach Steve Negoesco started five freshman – and in key roles - as the Don’s top scorer Cato Anderson was a freshman, as well as both goalies – Mark Powell and Arild Haugan.
One of the season highlights was capturing the Metropolitan Classic with a 2-1 win over national power Virginia. The Dons also handled BYU (7-3), Santa Clara (4-1), Stanford (2-1) and Fresno State (5-1) over the course of a 19-win campaign.
The Dons swept through the WCAC postseason tournament, first manhandling Loyola Marymount 8-0 as Jan Helge Schifloe recorded a hat trick with three goals. In the title game, USF prevailed over Portland 4-1.
The Dons met powerhouse UCLA in the opening round of the NCAA playoffs. The Bruins had defeated USF 3-2 back on September 20 at Negoesco Stadium. But this was November – and the playoff-tested Dons blanked the mighty Bruins 5-0, as five different USF players scored goals. The Dons then captured the NCAA Western regional with a thrilling 3-2 win over UNLV. The Dons season came to a bitter end in the NCAA quarterfinals as nationally ranked Virginia gained revenge, and defeated USF 3-2 in a re-match of there earlier contest.
USF said so long to outstanding senior “Super-sweeper” Erik Nielsen from Oslo, Norway. Nielsen was a two-time All-American during a storied four-year career on the Hilltop. He also earned first team All-Conference honors three times.
Arlid Haugan was a Norwegian native and graduated in 1986 from USF with a Bachelors in Business. He attended USF on a soccer scholarship. He earned a Masters at Thunderbird School of Global Management, and is currently Managing Director of Avilion in Vietnam.
