TAMPA, Fla. – Elise Grissett knows how to score. She proved as much at Queens University in Charlotte where she scored 83 goals in three seasons. But to set a program record with six goals in her USF debut?
“I could not have even imagined this time last year that I would be somewhere else,” said the Holly Springs, N.C. native, who is spending her final season of eligibility with Mindy McCord’s Bulls. “It is such a cool feeling to come in here and be able to make a difference right away.”
Grissett, who had nine shots on goal, opened the scoring a little more than four minutes into a 20-5 win over Niagara on a gorgeous Saturday afternoon at Corbett Field in front of 420 patrons. She made it 2-0 at the 7:05 mark as the Bulls built a 6-0 lead before the Purple Eagles had a shot on goal.
“Elise is so quick and has the skillset that we need because we had to replace some players,” said McCord, whose squad was picked to finish second behind defending conference champ James Madison in the American preseason poll after placing second in its inaugural season of 2025. “She has come in and just been dominant and creating chemistry with the offense quickly.”
McCord was pleased with what she saw from her team, which outshot Niagara 49-17 with 31 of the shots ending up on goal.
“I think we followed our gameplan pretty well,” said McCord, acknowledging there is an adjustment in getting accustomed to a few rule changes that were implemented for the 2026 season, including hand checks resulting in a foul. “From a chemistry standpoint, we played a lot of players and they were able to get a game under their belt (against a team) in another uniform. So, I am really happy with what I saw, especially offensively.”
Junior Ava Uphues scored four goals and redshirt senior Kaitlyn Tartaglione scored twice. Sofia Chepenik, who like Grissett had nine shots, scored a pair of breakaway goals and had an assist. Chepenik was the American’s co-preseason attack of the year and a unanimous selection on the all-conference team.
The Bulls return to action next Sunday (1 p.m.) against Michigan at Corbett Stadium. The No. 13 Wolverines lost their opener Friday night at No. 25 Notre Dame, 12-10. They play at Florida on Friday (noon) before making their way down I-75 to meet USF.
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