SoCon Quarters

SoCon Championship Quarterfinal
Belmont (11-4-1) vs. ETSU (4-7-3) | Friday, Nov. 5 | 5:00 p.m. CT
Greensboro, North Carolina | UNCG Soccer Stadium
ESPN+ | Live Stats | Match Notes

SoCon Championship Bracket | Championship Central

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Beginning postseason play the Belmont University men's soccer team returns to match action following a 10-day break from competition. The fourth-seeded Bruins take on fifth-seeded East Tennessee State University Friday evening in the 2021 Southern Conference Men's Soccer Championship quarterfinal round in Greensboro, North Carolina. Kickoff from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro's UNCG Soccer Stadium is slated for 5 p.m. CT/6 p.m. ET.

The conference tournament match will be broadcast on ESPN+ with live in-game statistics available via BelmontBruins.com. Admission is free.

What's Bruin

• Completing the month of October 6-1, Belmont (11-4-1) has gone 11-2-1 over its last 14 outings.
• The Bruins rebounded from a 3-2 double overtime setback at Mercer University on Oct. 23 to wrap up SoCon play with their single-season program record eighth shutout of the fall a week and a half ago at Eastern Illinois. Closing out the regular season with a non-conference road affair, Belmont defeated the Panthers 2-0 in Charleston, Illinois, on Tuesday, Oct. 26.
• Senior forward Liam O'Brien scored his eighth goal of the season in the 26th minute of the regular season finale before fellow senior forward Niccolo Dagnoni added insurance around the 42-minute mark with a strong strike off a set piece. Senior goalkeeper Drew Romig made a career-high eight saves, including five in the second half, for his seventh clean sheet of the fall to set the school's single-season shutout record.
• The triumph marked the Bruins' 11th of the year, tying the most wins in a single season in program history.
• On Friday, Belmont has a chance to reach 12 victories for the first time in school history. The Bruins won 11 matches in 2008 as well, finishing 11-8-2.
• Having gone 2-4-1 away from E.S. Rose Park this fall, Belmont will play its first neutral-site match of the season against the Buccaneers.
• Scoring 18 goals across their previous seven 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), O'Brien (6), sophomore midfielder Michael Saunders (1), senior midfielder/defender Esteban Lestido (1), sophomore defender Case Cox (3) and Dagnoni (2) all registering at least a goal since the start of October.
• Fueled by elite defensive play all throughout the season, Belmont currently ranks fourth nationally in save percentage (.833) while 14th in the nation in shutout percentage (.500) and 18th in team goals against average (.784).
• Earlier Thursday, head coach David Costa was tabbed SoCon Co-Head Coach of the Year with UNC Greensboro's leader Chris Rich.
• Six different Bruins earned All-SoCon distinction with Dagnoni landing a spot on the first team for the second time in his illustrious career. O'Brien, Chastonay, senior defenders John Bannec and Jack Shaw, and Cox were all named All-SoCon Second Team.
• For the second time this season, Romig was chosen as SoCon Defensive Player of the Month following his outstanding play in the month of October. Racking up 35 saves across seven matches, Romig recorded a trio of shutouts during the month. Heading into the postseason he ranks fifth in the country in save percentage (.831), 12th in shutouts, 21st in goals against average (0.8) and 27th in saves (64).
• Romig has also three times been named SoCon Defensive Player of the Week, earning the league's final weekly award of the year this past Tuesday. He is the first Belmont player to be named SoCon Player of the Week three times in one season. Romig was also selected as defensive player of the week on Oct. 12 and Sept. 7.
• Friday evening's matchup will be the 10th all-time meeting between the two programs with the series deadlocked at 4-4-1.
• The Bruins also faced ETSU in the quarterfinal round of the 2019 SoCon Championship in Greensboro, emerging with a 2-0 win. Shaw provided the go-ahead goal in the 16th minute before Dagnoni scored in the 83rd. Belmont was seeded sixth and the Buccaneers were the No. 3 seed. The match was the Bruins' lone SoCon Championship quarterfinal since joining the conference in 2018.
• On Sept. 18 in Nashville, Belmont shut out visiting ETSU in a one-goal contest. Chastonay's 72nd minute score proved to be the difference.
• The Bruins are 3-3 in the previous three SoCon Championships and are coming off their first title match appearance in program history after upsetting top-seeded and then 25th-ranked Furman University in the 2020-21 semifinals last spring.
• This year's No. 1 seed is host UNC Greensboro (13-3-1), who went 5-1 in SoCon play to capture the regular season championship. Belmont handed the 25th-ranked Spartans their lone league loss of the season with a 2-1 win in the Music City on senior day (Oct. 16).
• Should the Bruins win Friday evening, Belmont will take on top-seeded UNC Greensboro Sunday at 5 p.m. CT.
• 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 Buccaneers

• ETSU (4-7-3) finished fifth in the final SoCon standings after posting a 1-3-2 record in conference action.
• The Buccaneers took Mercer to a scoreless draw at home on Sept. 25 before tying Wofford at 3-3 on Oct. 2 in Johnson City, Tennessee. A 3-0 road defeat of Virginia Military Institute on Oct. 16 was ETSU's only league win this season.
• Entering the SoCon Championship on a two-match slide, ETSU fell 2-1 at Furman on Oct. 23 and dropped a 2-0 decision to UNC Greensboro at home this past Saturday.
• The Bucs feature All-SoCon First Team forward Tarik Pannholzer, who leads the team with 10 goals on the season, and All-SoCon Second Team goalkeeper Josh Perryman, who holds a 1.71 goals against average with 50 saves and three shutouts. Forward Rayhan Carlson-Du Toit landed a spot on the SoCon All-Freshman Team and has accounted for two goals and two assists.
• Sophomore midfielder Gabriel Ramos leads ETSU with six assists.

Up Next

With a victory Friday, Belmont would advance to the 2021 SoCon Men's Soccer Championship semifinals where the Bruins would face the top-seeded Spartans at the UNCG Soccer Stadium Sunday at 5 p.m. CT.

Follow Belmont men's soccer on social media - @BelmontMSoccer on Twitter and @belmontmsoccer on Instagram - for complete coverage of the Bruins. Stay up to date with all of Belmont's athletic programs via the official app of the Belmont Bruins, available both in the Apple App Store and on Google Play.

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