Box Score ATLANTA, Ga. - - Belmont University men's soccer delivered one of its finest performances of the season in a 2-0 triumph over Georgia State Tuesday evening.
The Bruins were forceful and unified from the opening kick in earning a just result after some recent heartache.
After sophomore netminder Grayson Rector (Peachtree City, Ga.) denied Georgia State's Bo Stroup, Belmont slowly began to build a consistent attack.
Sophomore Nat Hubert (Chichester, England) and freshman Rashad Hyacenth (D'Abadie, Trinidad & Tobago) strung together fine chances in the 11th and 12th minute, respectively, as the Bruins gained confidence throughout.
Panther forward Tyler Alexander cobbled together a few half chances midway through the half, before Belmont junior Joonas Bask (Finland) narrowly missed a promising header right before intermission.
The Bruins outshot Georgia State, 5-4, in the opening 45, and carried that positive momentum into the second half.
A flurry of Belmont chances from senior Luca Schioppa (Sao Paulo, Brazil), Hyacenth, and senior Joao Fonseca (Aracaju, Brazil) early in the frame put Georgia State goalkeeper Luke Oesterle on notice.
Then in the 59th minute, off timely corner kick service from Hubert, junior defender Sam Black (Douglas, Isle of Man, UK) snuck near post and headed one into the back of the net to give Belmont a 1-0 advantage.
Rather than sit back, Belmont continued to pressure the Panther backline. Less than three minutes later, senior Diego Figueroa (Pensacola, Fla.) pounced on a loose rebound off a Fonseca strike to extend the margin to two goals.
Freshman Adriano Balani (Durres, Albania) nearly tallied late, but two quality looks just missed frame.
All told, Belmont held a 13-5 shot advantage, including 8-1 in the second half.
Rector made two saves for his second shutout of the season.
"We had a complete match today from start to finish," Belmont head coach Bryan Green told belmontbruins.com afterwards. "We created several chances and defended extremely well. And mentally we were very good at recovering from the few small mistakes we made."
"I'm proud of the team for continuing to work hard and buy into what we have been doing." Green added.
Belmont (2-10-0) returns to Horizon League play Saturday, Oct. 11 at defending tournament champion Milwaukee.
Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m. CT. The match will be broadcast live on the Horizon League Network.
