Men's Soccer Falls to Stetson 1-0 In First A-Sun Match of Season

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Belmont men's soccer team (3-6-0) fell to Stetson (4-2-1) by a score of 1-0 in its first Atlantic Sun match of the season Friday afternoon.  The Bruins gave up the only goal of the game on a penalty kick in the 72nd minute of play.

The Hatters took control of the match early, as they were on the offensive for the better part of the first half.  Although neither team was able to get on the board in the first frame, Stetson outshot Belmont 12-4 and recorded six corner kicks to the Bruins' zero.

After coming out of the locker room tied at 0-0, Belmont stepped their game up a bit and competed step for step with the defending Atlantic Sun Champions.  The Bruins finished second half action with an 11-9 advantage in shots and an equal amount of corner kick attempts, at three a piece.

It was the Hatters that capitalized on an opportunity in the second period.  After Jonathan Mendoza received a ball behind the BU defense, he found himself one on one with Belmont goalkeeper Lou Manning (Southlake, Texas).  Manning stopped Mendoza from scoring, but the official awarded the Hatters a penalty kick.  Stetson's Gonzalo De Mujica stepped up to the line and put it past Manning to give the Hatters the lead with only 18 minutes to play.

Manning made a number of great saves for Belmont in only his second match of the season.  The sophomore finished with seven saves on the day to keep the Bruins in the game.  Junior Dan Meacock (Sarasota, Fla.), senior T.J. Brown (Hendersonville, Tenn.), and freshman Diego Figueroa (Pensacola, Fla.) all recorded shots on goal for BU.

"I thought my boys were terrific today.  I don't think we got what we deserved.  I think we deserved to win that game," Head Coach Earle Davidson said.  "Our plan was to play our game and take care of the ball.  After the first 15 minutes I thought we settled down and really controlled the pace of the game.  I think it's unfair when the game is decided by external forces, and not the players on the field."

Belmont will next play host to Florida Gulf Coast on Sunday with a kick off scheduled for 12:05 p.m.  The Bruins will then head back on the road to take on North Florida and Jacksonville in A-Sun competition.  BU will be at the Ospreys on October 8 at 6:00 p.m. and at the Dolphins on October 10 at 12:00 p.m.