Regular Season Finale

Belmont (10-4-1) at Eastern Illinois (2-9-1) | Tuesday, Oct. 26 | 1:00 p.m.
Charleston, Illinois | Lakeside Field
ESPN+ | Live Stats | Belmont Match Notes

CHARLESTON, Ill. – A Tuesday matinee will wrap up the Belmont University men's soccer team's fall 2021 regular season as the Bruins head to Charleston, Illinois, to face Eastern Illinois University in non-conference action. Kickoff of the regular season finale is slated for 1 p.m. from Lakeside Field.

The midweek road tilt will be broadcast live on ESPN+ with live in-game statistics available via EIUPanthers.com.

What's Bruin

• Going for its 11th win of the season, Belmont (10-4-1) has a chance to tie the most victories in a single season in program history after going 11-8-2 in 2008.
• Notching their 10th win of the season in historic fashion, the Bruins knocked off then 16th-ranked UNC Greensboro 2-1 on Saturday, Oct. 16 at E.S. Rose Park. The triumph represented the highest-ranked opponent Belmont had ever defeated at home as the Bruins reached the 10-win mark in a season for just the second time in school history.
• Belmont had its program record six-match win streak snapped this past Saturday in double overtime at Mercer University.
• Despite making a valiant comeback in the final 22 minutes of regulation after falling behind by two goals in the 52nd minute, the Bruins were unable to hold off the host Bears in the second extra-time period. A penalty kick goal by senior forward Niccolo Dagnoni in the 69th minute and a header by sophomore defender Case Cox in the 83rd minute knotted up the score at two goals apiece. After Belmont had opportunities to score the game winner in the first overtime period, it was Mercer forward Trevor Martineau who ended the Southern Conference match at 3-2 in the 108th minute with approximately 2:45 remaining.
• With Saturday's result, the Bruins are now 1-1-1 in a trio of double overtime matches this fall.
• Saturday's setback was Belmont's first of the month as the Bruins have gone 10-2-1 over their last 13 outings and are 5-1 in October.
• Seeking just its second road win of the season, Belmont has gone 1-4-1 outside of Rose Park this fall and is 1-4 away from the Music City.
• With the Bruins' victory over the visiting Spartans a week and a half ago, Belmont extended its program record home win streak to 10 dating back to last April. The Bruins are an unblemished 9-0 at Rose Park this season, outscoring their visiting adversaries 15-3. Winning 12 of its last 14 home matches, Belmont is an impressive 18-7-3 at Rose Park since the beginning of the 2018 season.
• Scoring 16 goals across their previous six matches, the Bruins have had seven different players find the back of the net with sophomore midfielder AJ Chastonay (4), sophomore forward Esteban Leiva (1), senior forward Liam O'Brien (5), sophomore midfielder Michael Saunders (1), senior midfielder/defender Esteban Lestido (1), Cox (3) and Dagnoni (1) all registering at least a goal this month.
• With a 1-0 home victory over Wofford on Saturday, Oct. 9, Belmont set the school record for shutouts in a single season with seven this fall. The shutout was the Bruins' fourth in a row, which also set the program record for consecutive shutouts.
• Although Belmont gave up three goals for just the second time this season Saturday in Macon, Georgia, the Bruins still rank among national leaders defensively. Belmont ranks 14th in the nation in save percentage (0.81), 21st in shutout percentage (0.47) and 26th in goals against average (0.83).
• Chastonay, the reigning SoCon Offensive Player of the Week, has accounted for six game winners this year to tie for the most among all NCAA Division I men's soccer players. Scoring the game winner in both of the Bruins' 2-1 wins last week against the University of Evansville (Oct. 12) and then nationally-ranked UNC Greensboro (Oct. 16), Chastonay was tabbed TopDrawerSoccer National Player of the Week and named to College Soccer News' Men's National Team of the Week. The Louisville, Kentucky, native's six goals this season are the second-most of any Belmont player.
• With his late-match goal against the Bears Saturday afternoon, Cox has now either scored or assisted on a goal in each of the Bruins' last four matches. The reigning SoCon Defensive Player of the Week has recorded a goal in three of Belmont's last four contests. Cox was responsible for the assist on Chastonay's game winner against the SoCon leading Spartans.
• The Bruins' last line of defense in front of the net, senior goalkeeper Drew Romig is having quite the season in his final collegiate campaign. The reigning SoCon Defensive Player of the Month (September) is only one shutout away from setting the program's single-season record with six clean sheets this fall. Romig is on pace to shatter both single-season and career school records for goals against average with an outstanding 0.85 goals against average this season and a 0.90 GAA in 24 matches over his two-year Belmont career. The Midlothian, Virginia, native currently ranks 10th nationally in save percentage (0.812), is 15th in shutouts and 31st in GAA.
• Dagnoni's goal Saturday at Mercer was his third PK and fourth score of the season. He now owns 16 goals in his four-year career, moving him into sole possession of fifth place among all-time Bruins with the fourth-most goals in program history. Dagnoni has 16 points this fall and 55 points for his career, which represent the second-most in school history. With a team-best eight assists this year and 23 for his career, the Milan, Italy, striker is only one assist shy of setting the program's single-season assist record and two away from tying Nico Olsak (2010-13) for the most assists ever by a Belmont player.
• Tallying a team-high seven goals this season and owning 13 in his career, O'Brien is in a three-way tie for the seventh-most goals in school history with Channing Twyner (2002-05) and Brian Holmes (1995-98). The Freehold, New Jersey, native has posted a pair of braces and a hat trick over the last two seasons.
• Tuesday afternoon will be the 10th all-time meeting between the Bruins and Panthers with EIU holding a slight 5-4 advantage in the series.
• Belmont has won four of the previous five meetings but was edged 3-2 in double overtime in its last matchup with the Panthers on Sept. 24, 2019, in Charleston. The Bruins are an even 2-2 versus EIU in Illinois with their last road victory in the series coming on Oct. 17, 2017 (2-1, OT).
• Senior forward Ares Marlonsson assisted on two of Belmont's three goals in the Bruins' 3-2 win over the Panthers on Sept. 25, 2018, at Rose Park, while Dagnoni punched in the game winner in the 90th minute. During Belmont's last bout with EIU in 2019, Dagnoni scored in 52nd minute and junior midfielder Corey Lavinder collected his first career goal in the 62nd minute.
• On Tuesday, Sept. 28, Belmont President Dr. Gregory Jones announced the Bruins would be joining the Missouri Valley Conference as its 11th member institution. Belmont will begin competition in the MVC in the fall of 2022. The MVC is comprised of Missouri State, Loyola University Chicago, SIUE, Drake, Bradley and Evansville for men's soccer. The Bruins will make up the seventh member in the league.
• It will be a return to the MVC for Belmont in men's soccer as the Bruins spent the 2000 season as affiliate league members.

About the Panthers

• EIU (2-9-1) halted a four-match losing streak last Wednesday with a 1-0 win at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. The Bruins topped visiting IUPUI 4-0 back on Oct. 5 in Nashville.
• The Panthers' only other win this season was a 1-0 home shutout of the University of St. Thomas. EIU also played Green Bay to a 1-1 draw in Charleston.
• Both Bellarmine and Missouri State are common opponents of Belmont and the Panthers this fall. Taking on the two programs in road matchups, EIU was defeated 2-1 by Bellarmine on Sept. 12 before dropping a 2-0 decision at then receiving-votes Missouri State on Sept. 15. The Bruins claimed a 1-0 home triumph against Bellarmine on Sept. 29 but suffered a 3-1 setback at then 12th-ranked Missouri State in the season opener on Aug. 26.
• With a 1-3 mark in league play, the Panthers are tied for fifth place in the seven-team Summit League. Picked to finish sixth in The Summit League's preseason poll, EIU went 1-8-2 overall during the unique 2020-21 spring season and finished sixth in the then six-team conference with a 1-7-2 league mark.
• Both senior forward Reed Axthelm and graduate goalkeeper Jonathan Burke were labeled as preseason Summit League Players to Watch.
• The Panthers have scored just seven goals this season and have assisted on only two of those. Redshirt senior forward Davi Girardi, who has started the last six matches, leads the team with two goals and an assist.

Up Next

Belmont will learn of its seeding and matchup for the 2021 SoCon Championship following the conclusion of the conference's regular season this Saturday night. The SoCon Championship will be held Monday, Nov. 1 – Saturday/Sunday, Nov. 13/14 at campus sites.

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