TAMPA, SEPT. 14, 2016 – Senior Nazeem Bartman (Cape Town, South Africa) scored in the 56th minute and Spasoje Stefanovic (Belgrade, Serbia) notched his second-straight shutout as the University of South Florida men's soccer team ran past North Florida, 1-0, Wednesday night. The Bulls improved to 2-3-2, and handed the Ospreys (3-1-1) their first loss of the season at Corbett Stadium.
Bartman netted his second goal of the season off the feed from classmate Marcus Epps (Jackson, Miss.) and Lindo Mfeka (Durban, South Africa). Bartman drilled in a shot from eight yards out on a beautiful cross created by Epps when he weaved through three Ospreys to make the connection. Stefanovic led a staunch defensive effort, making five saves including four in the first half.
Quotables:
Senior Nazeem Bartman (#9) on the change at the half:
“Right now, everyone has faith in one another. Like you saw tonight, the first half wasn't what we had planned, but at the half, in the locker room, we tried to help each other. We came together and came out ready in the second half. Everything just changed for us.”
Head coach George Kiefer on the team's adjustments:
“I thought it was a good win against a team that was undefeated. They gave us a lot of situations to look at in the first half, but the guys responded really well. I felt really good about the team's performance in the second half. I was really pleased with how the guys handled the information we gave them at half time.”
Head coach George Kiefer on the Stefanovic's performance:
“I thought he looked excellent tonight. He looked like a pro goal keeper. The really good save that he had in the first half, that skipped in on the bounce was difficult. Then he came up with a good one in the second half. That, to be fair, is what we expect him to do. We need him to come up with one or two big saves every game.”
Key Stat:
The Ospreys outshot the Bulls 14-4, including 8-1 in the first half but Stefanovic carried the defense on his back, making four saves to North Florida's zero.
Notables:
MAC Herman trophy candidate Bartman snagged his second goal of the year, scoring his 10th goal as a Bull, the 44th of his collegiate career. His marker came from the combo of Epps and Mfeka for the second consecutive game.
Stefanovic posted his 16th career solo shutout, the second of the 2016 season.
Up Next:
USF ends its four-game home stand Sept. 18 against Buffalo. The Bulls will host the currently undefeated Buffalo squad in a 1 p.m. match-up.
The Bulls ended the 2015 campaign in the second round of the NCAA Tournament and an 11-6-3 overall record (5-1-2 The American). Head coach George Kiefer was named the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) East Region Coach of the Year. Kiefer led USF to its eighth NCAA tournament appearance in the past nine years and earned the No. 2 ranking in the NSCAA East Region. The Bulls posted double-digit wins for the ninth time under Kiefer in 14 seasons and went undefeated at home during the regular season.
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