By TOM ZEBOLD

USF Senior Writer

TAMPA, OCT. 21, 2015 – No. 13 USF kept its perfect home record intact by rolling past in-state rival UCF, 3-1, on Wednesday night.

USF (10-3-1, 5-0-1) got second-half goals from Nazeem Bartman and Brandon Riley and improved to 8-0 at Corbett Stadium this season. Melvin Becket got the scoring started for a red-hot USF team that’s on a five-game unbeaten streak.

“The team is really starting to attack on all cylinders, which is a good feeling,” said George Kiefer, who secured his 151^st victory as head coach of the Bulls.

USF improved to 20-5-3 in its all-time series with UCF and the Bulls seized the advantage early in the first half.

Becket nearly scored on a header in the third minute, but the Knights couldn’t stop another try by the junior forward shortly after. Marcus Epps fired a pass near the box that was headed in by Becket in the 11^th minute.

Becket has three goals in his debut season with the Bulls after becoming a two-time NJCAA All-American at Lewis & Clark Community College. Epps collected his third assist of the season.

Despite the fast start, USF found itself back on even ground at the half. Hadji Barry’s ninth goal of the season tied things up for the Knights in the 40^th minute.

“We started the game on fire,” Kiefer said. “I don’t think we got rattled when they tied the game. They came out in the second half and got another early goal.”

The Bulls roared out of the gates after the break and jumped back ahead in the 47^th minute. Bartman beat defenders to the ball on a short kick by UCF keeper Brendan Rennie and fired home his team-leading sixth goal of the season with Knights in hot pursuit.

“The guy was climbing on him, that was not an easy finish,” Kiefer said. “That’s what makes him a little bit different than other players.”

USF put the game out of reach in the 75^th minute with an impressive sequence in front of the net. Michael Bajza directed a corner kick toward traffic that went off the feet of Terry Delancy and Gabriel Pfeffer before Riley netted his second goal of the season.

USF has scored multiple goals in seven of eight home games this season while outscoring opponents, 17-3, at Corbett Stadium.

“Compared to August when we started, there has been a big improvement,” Bartman said. “Everyone’s mentality, their work rate, everything has just improved and you can see it showing on the field.”

Fans can catch the Bulls back at Corbett Stadium 7 p.m. Saturday against first-place SMU. The Mustangs (10-2-2, 5-0) were in action later Wednesday night at Tulsa. Purchase tickets to USF-SMU at USFBullsTix.com.

“We’re super excited about that one. How could you not be?” Kiefer said. “It’s college soccer and two really good teams going after each other. It’s going to be a fun one."

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