Box Score NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Belmont Bruins cruised past the Faulkner Eagles by a score of 4-1 at E.S. Rose Park on Saturday night. Four different Bruins scored to give the squad back-to-back home victories.
Sophomore forward Niccolo Dagnoni (32nd minute), junior midfielder Jack Shaw (53rd minute), sophomore forward Ares Marlonsson (69th minute) and junior forward Jordan Dozzi (87th minute) each scored for Belmont.
Shaw's goal came as the first of his career, as Marlonsson found the net for the first time this season in just 17 minutes on the pitch. Dozzi capped off the night with a pair of assists, while Dagnoni recorded his third assist of the year on Shaw's goal. Sophomore defender Brett Royster registered his first-career assist on a throw-in to Marlonsson.
Overall, the Bruins fired a season-high 18 shots and nine shots on goal on Saturday, as junior goalkeeper Nicolo Dini racked up three saves on seven shots faced from the Eagles.
Faulkner junior midfielder Pedro Moura scored the lone goal for the Eagles in the 87th minute on a service from senior defender Dave Chesterman.
Belmont got off to a hot start early with five shots and two corner kicks in the first 20 minutes of action. Dagnoni kicked off the Bruins scoring with his third goal of the season on a rocket from the top of the box. Dozzi claimed an assist on the goal, which found the top-right corner of the net to beat Faulkner's keeper in the 32nd minute.
To round out the first half, the Bruins doubled the Eagles shots (8) and held a 3-2 advantage in corner kicks.
Shaw opened up Belmont's second half onslaught with a 53rd-minute goal to double the Bruins lead. Dagnoni connected with Dozzi at the top of the box, who found Shaw on a through ball to give Belmont a 2-0 advantage.
Just 16 minutes later, Marlonsson poked in a goal on a long throw-in from Royster in the box, as the Bruins took a convincing three-goal lead with 30 minutes remaining in regulation.
Faulkner netted its first goal of the match in the 87th minute to stave off a shutout from Belmont. However, Dozzi responded just 16 seconds later for the Bruins on a penalty kick, which found the bottom-right corner of the net.
In total, Belmont out-shot the Eagles 10-3 in the final 45 minutes to finish with a 9-4 advantage in shots on goal. The Bruins logged their third-straight contest with seven or more shots on goal. Belmont also recorded double-digit shots for the third time in their last four matchups.
FOURTH TIME'S THE CHARM: The Bruins four-goal barrage came as the most for the program since Aug. 27, 2017, when they registered a 6-1 victory at Rose Park over Niagara.
UP NEXT: Belmont will hit the road to take on Louisville in their final non-conference matchup of the season Tuesday. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. at Dr. Mark and Cindy Lynn Stadium. The Bruins then return home Saturday, Oct. 12 for their first Southern Conference bout of the season against the Wofford Terriers on Senior Day.
QUOTES:
David Costa, Head Coach
"Tonight was a good team performance. It is always great to score that many goals, but we were just as pleased with the defensive discipline shown by the team. We are continuing to get better each week and look forward to our last non-conference match this week in preparation for the start of Southern Conference play."
