By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer

TAMPA – USF came out with a sense of urgency following three straight overtime ties and took care of business early Wednesday night.

Wesley Charpie scored in the 16th minute and the Bulls made sure Mercer didn't have many good looks at the net in a dominant 1-0 win at Corbett Soccer Stadium. The Bulls improved to 7-2-4 and snapped the Bear's four-game win streak.

“Coming off a lot of ties it's been stressful, especially on the body. We didn't want to go into overtime again today and to win it in regulation was good,” Charpie said.

USF wasted little time grabbing a lead on the Atlantic Sun Conference's top team when Charpie took a pass sequence from Brenton Griffiths and Ashani Fairclough in traffic and scored his first goal of the season from long range.

“Coach really stressed today to come out sharp and score first, and we definitely did today,” Charpie said. “We set the tone in the first half, keeping the ball against a good Mercer team.” 

The Bulls almost had a 2-0 lead after Gerardo Hernandez lofted a shot over keeper Greg Ranjitsingh, but the goal didn't count because of an offside call. Still, head coach George Kiefer was pleased with the opening effort as USF outshot Mercer, 10-2, and five of those forced Ranjitsingh to make a save attempt.

“I was pleased because I never once thought (Mercer) had much, where we were in too much danger,” Kiefer said. 

The Bulls kept possession throughout the second half with Mercer (8-4-1) managing just seven total shots. The Bears' greatest threat came with less than four minutes left when keeper Dallas Jaye came up huge with a save in traffic that was cleared away quickly by Ben Sweat. Jaye wound up with three saves in his first-career start and Kiefer said he'll give the sophomore another start Saturday against Syracuse.

“He didn't have a lot to do and goalkeepers at USF typically don't have a lot to do. They just need to come up with a big save or two a game and I thought he was always in good spots,” Kiefer said.

The Bulls get back into Big East play 7:30 p.m. Saturday against the Orange back at Corbett Soccer Stadium.