Bruins Travel to Evansville Wednesday for Regular Season Finale

 
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Belmont University men's soccer team closes out its regular season on the road at Evansville Wednesday night in a pivotal Missouri Valley Conference matchup. Kickoff from Arad McCutchan Stadium in Evansville, Kentucky is set for 6 p.m.
 
The regular season finale will be broadcast on ESPN+ with live statistics of the match available on BelmontBruins.com.
 
What's Bruin

• The visiting Bruins and the host Purple Aces battled to a scoreless draw on Wednesday, Oct. 5 in the Music City. The match was a physical outing for both teams and saw 18 combined fouls. Belmont put six shots on goal, while Evansville tallied 10 total shots and earned seven corner kicks. Graduate goalkeeper Nate Logan came up with four saves and Alex Vidizzoni made six saves in front of the net for the Purple Aces.
• Extending their non-conference unbeaten streak to five, the Bruins wrapped up the home portion of their regular season last Wednesday night with a dominant 2-0 win over Eastern Illinois. With tremendous defensive play, Belmont did not concede a single shot on goal to the visiting Panthers and allowed only three total shots. Claiming their sixth shutout of the season, the Bruins racked up a season-high 27 shots, including 10 shots on goal, and a season-best 14 corner kicks. Senior forward Liam O'Brien found the back of the net in the 57th minute off senior midfielder Kyle Barks' first career assist and junior forward Esteban Leiva headed in his first goal of the season in the 66th minute. O'Brien's score was his team-leading fifth goal of the year and 22nd of his career. Sophomore goalkeeper Grant Calvert made his first appearance in front of the net, earning his first collegiate start and picking up clean sheet.
• Last Wednesday's victory against EIU was Belmont's first since Sept. 24 at SIUE (1-0) and first home win since Sept. 17 versus Bradley (2-1).
• The Bruins have earned back-to-back shutouts for the first time this season.
• Belmont owns 15 shutouts in two seasons, including 11 at home.
• The Bruins have not allowed a goal since Oct. 19 (at Bellarmine) and own six shutouts this fall, including two scoreless draws against top-25 opponents. Belmont played No. 17 Lipscomb to a 0-0 tie on Sept. 6 in the 25th Battle of the Boulevard and knotted No. 19 Missouri State in a scoreless affair on Oct. 23.
• The Bruins own four road results this fall, including a trio of wins.
• With his second-half go-ahead goal versus Eastern Illinois last Wednesday night, O'Brien moved into a tie with Fernando Castellanos (2002-03) for the second-most ever by a Belmont player (22). He is only nine goals shy of the most ever by a Bruin (31) – Brandon Tarr (2009-12). His 48 career points rank him fourth on Belmont's all-time scoring list, surpassing Nico Olsak (2010-13) and Will Moorad (2008-11) with his score last Wednesday.
• O'Brien became the Bruins' winningest player in program history with Belmont's 2-0 triumph over the visiting Panthers last Wednesday. He has been involved in 35 match wins over his five-year Bruin career. Graduate midfielder JP Armbruster and senior midfielders Kyle Barks and Corey Lavinder, who began their Belmont careers in 2019, aren't too far behind and have been a part of 31 match wins.
• Following his efforts last week O'Brien was tabbed Tennessee Sports Writers Association (TSWA) Player of the Week, becoming the third Bruin to garner the weekly state accolade this season.
• In this week's United Soccer Coaches West Region poll, Belmont moved up to a season-high fifth place. The Bruins are one of four MVC teams ranked in the region's top 10 with Missouri State leading the way in third place, followed by Belmont, Drake sixth and Evansville 10th.
• In the fourth week of the season's NCAA RPI (Ratings Power Index), the Bruins are ranked 89th as the third-highest rated MVC team. The league has four teams in the top 100 of the RPI with Missouri State at No. 26 and Drake just ahead of Belmont at No. 88. The University of Illinois Chicago is ranked 98th in the RPI and Evansville sits just right outside the top 100 at 101.
• Four different Bruins have collected a total of five MVC player of the week awards this season – graduate goalkeeper Nate Logan (defensive, Aug. 30 and Sept. 27), senior defender John Bannec (defensive, Sept. 13), junior midfielder Michael Saunders (offensive, Sept. 27) and most recently junior defender Case Cox (offensive, Oct. 4).
• Keeper Logan ranks among national leaders in shutouts (5), goals against average (1.07), save percentage (.750), goalie minutes played (1,260) and saves (45), while senior midfielder Jansen Wilson is among the nation's best as a facilitator with a team-leading six assists on the season.
• Wednesday night will be the 15th all-time meeting between Belmont and Evansville on the pitch with the Purple Aces holding a 10-3-1 lead in the series.
• The Bruins have earned a result in each of their last two matchups with Evansville, including a 2-1 win last October in Nashville.
• Belmont has not played in Evansville since Sept. 6, 2015.

About the Purple Aces

• Evansville enters the final day of regular season matches in third place in the MVC standings with a 3-2-2 league record and a two-point lead on the Bruins with 11 conference points.
• The Purple Aces are 6-4-5 overall and are 4-1-3 at home with their lone loss in Evansville coming to then 19th-ranked Xavier on Sept. 20. Evansville is on a four-match home unbeaten streak but is coming off a 2-0 road loss at UIC this past Saturday.
• The Purple Aces were picked to finish fifth in the seven-team league according to the preseason coaches poll after posting a 3-6-1 MVC mark (10 points) a season ago. Finishing fourth in the 2021 conference standings, Evansville went 4-14-2 overall but made a run to the Valley's title match with a penalty kick shootout win (8-7) over second-seeded Loyola University Chicago in the MVC Championship semifinals.
• Led by eighth-year head coach Marshall Ray, the Purple Aces feature reigning MVC Freshman of the Year Jose Vivas and fellow 2021 MVC All-Freshman Team member Jon Varela (defender).
• Sophomore forward Nacho Diaz is one of the most prolific scorers in the nation, ranking 18th in the country and leading the MVC with nine goals. His 20 points on the season also lead the league, while senior winger Nkosi Graham leads Evansville in assists (4).
• Sophomore midfielder Vivas and senior midfielder Carlos Barcia have both accounted for three goals and three assists. Junior forward Kai Phillip is second on the team with five goals.

Up Next
With a win Wednesday night in the Bluegrass State, the Bruins will host a first-round match in the MVC Championship. Complete seeding and matchups for the 2022 MVC Men's Soccer Championship will be announced late Wednesday night once all regular season matches conclude. The MVC Championship will begin Sunday, Nov. 6 with the tournament's first round.
 
Follow Belmont men's soccer on social media – @BelmontMSoccer on Twitter, @belmontmsoccer on Instagram and Belmont University Men's Soccer on Facebook – 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.