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Box Score 2 NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Belmont men's soccer team (4-5-0) scored early but fell to Evansville (5-3-0) at home on Sunday by a score of 4-1. Senior Will Moorad (Brentwood, Tenn.) scored the lone goal for the Bruins.
Belmont was playing with great with possession early on in the game, which led to the early score by Moorad. Sophomore Nico Olsak (Boca Raton, Fla.) received a ball at the top of the box and chipped it to the left side. Moorad ran onto the pass, collected the ball, and struck a shot past goalkeeper Eric Teppen to give BU an early 1-0 lead.
Moorad's goal in the sixth minute of play was his second of the season. The senior has moved into a tie for third place in Belmont annals for career goals with 17, and is alone in third for career points with 45. Olsak, who now has five helpers on the season, moved into second place for career assists with 13.
While the Bruins continued to have plenty of opportunities in the first half, it was the Purple Aces who took advantage of theirs. Evansville countered Belmont's early goal with one of its own in the 16th minute of play. Drew Schall played a ball to Jesse Sharp just past midfield. Sharp then carried it all the way into the BU box, and beat goalkeeper Lou Manning (Southlake, Texas) to tie the game at 1-1.
Belmont gave the Purple Aces the lead just before halftime, when Evansville took advantage of one of its three total corner kicks in the match. Dylan Terry played the corner to the top of the box, where Alex Kapsalis attempted a header. Jarrett Robbins flicked on Kapsalis's shot attempt and put Evansville up 2-1 in the 41st minute.
The Bruins got things started early again in the second half. Junior Brandon Tarr (Knoxville, Tenn.) stole the ball from an Evansville defender and beat a couple of players until he was all the way into the box. He then fed the ball off to Olsak for an easy goal, but the Belmont midfielder was taken out by Teppen in the box. BU was awarded a penalty kick less than two minutes into the frame, but the attempt by senior Edgardo Padilla (Grapevine, Texas) was saved by Teppen.
The failed penalty, coupled with a free kick from Olsak near the end of the first half which caromed off the post, hurt the Bruins' chances to win this one against the Purple Aces. Evansville added to their lead with a rebounded goal in the 56th minute, and then put the match away with a final score by Ryan Stallings in the 61st minute.
Belmont was outshot by a mark of 17-11, and only recorded one corner kick to the Purple Aces' three. Teppen and Manning each recorded five saves in goal for their respective teams.
"Full credit goes to Evansville in this one," Head Coach Earle Davidson said. "They're a hard-working, disciplined team. They were very patient, and played well at getting us on the counter. We had a couple lapses in the first half, and they punished us for it."
"We had enough chances today to score quite a few goals, but that's part of the game," Davidson said. "You have to tuck away your chances. They took their chances and they took them well."
The Bruins will next host ETSU on Thursday, September 29 at Rose Park. The 6:00 p.m. tilt will be the first Atlantic Sun Conference contest of the season.
Highlights
