The men’s soccer teamed emerged from its trip to Connecticut with two victories over non-conference opponents, defeating Florida International and South Carolina.

The Gamecocks came into the weekend ranked No. 15 in the country and were the first such opponent the Bulls have faced this year.

USF’s 2-0 victory is the result of goals from freshman Tony Taylor and senior Simon Schoendorf. It was Schoendorf’s third of the season and Taylor’s second.

The first came just three minutes into the match when junior forward Jordan Seabrook was able to feed Schoendorf an easy assist.

Taylor added to that in the 36th minute after midfielder Kevon Neaves slipped him a perfect pass. Neaves’ play of late has been stellar as he’s been on the stat sheet in all four games this season.

“Kevon is playing extremely well right now,” coach George Kiefer said. “He’s on the track and doing what he needs to do to become a very good player.”

The biggest success of the night for the Bulls, however, was their defense. On a day where the Bulls were outshot 13-7, they kept their third straight clean sheet. Goalkeeper Diego Restrepo collected his third shutout of the season with seven saves.

“It’s always nice to get shutouts,” Kiefer said. “It’s a different game on the road and to go to a tournament and not give up a goal, I was real happy with the way the team played.”

In the first game of the weekend, the Bulls played Florida International and walked away with a 1-0 victory.

It was Neaves that propelled the Bulls to victory. He scored in the 36th minute from 30 yards out on an assist from Schoendorf that gave the Bulls the only goal they would need on the night. It was Neaves’ third of the year thus far.

After this weekend’s success, the Bulls are now atop the Red Division at 4-0-0. The only team in the conference close to them is Connecticut, who shares the same record. The Huskies make their way to Tampa in less than two weeks to kick off conference play for both sides.