Men's Soccer Faces Third-Seeded Evansville in MVC Championship Semis

 
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Following a remarkable effort against fourth-seeded University of Illinois Chicago in the Missouri Valley Conference Men's Soccer Championship quarterfinals, the Belmont University men's soccer team finds itself just one victory away from its third consecutive conference tournament title match appearance. The Bruins take on third-seeded Evansville Thursday at 3 p.m. in the semifinals at Betty & Bobby Allison South Stadium in Springfield, Missouri.
 
The MVC Championship semifinal match will be broadcast on ESPN+ with live statistics of the postseason contest available on BelmontBruins.com.
 
What's Bruin

• Belmont earned its seventh win of the season by defeating No. 4 seed UIC 1-0 on the road Sunday afternoon in the Windy City. Junior forward Ayden von Essen provided the deciding goal in the 16th minute on a perfect delivery from junior midfielder AJ Chastonay. The first goal of his Bruin career, von Essen's diving header was his 22nd career score after transferring to Belmont from NCAA Division II Lake Erie College in Painesville, Ohio. The Bruins' defensive unit was outstanding once again against the host Flames, staving off 14 UIC shots and allowing only three shots on target. Graduate goalkeeper Nate Logan made a trio of saves and Belmont played nearly the entire second half down a man after junior forward Esteban Leiva received his second caution of the match in the 54th minute. Despite having only 10 men for the final 36 minutes, the Bruins were resilient and thwarted attack after attack by the Flames.
• Thursday afternoon's matchup will the third between the two teams this season with the first two matches resulting in scoreless draws. Belmont hosted the Purple Aces on Oct. 5 before closing out the regular season in Evansville last Wednesday. In the 180 minutes of scoreless soccer between the two squads, the Bruins posted 16 shots with eight of those on target while Evansville tallied 19 shots, including five on goal.
• Belmont is competing in its first MVC Championship in its first season as full conference members. The Bruins finished league play with 10 points. Although Belmont tied UIC in the conference standings, the Flames earned the higher seed and the right to host via tiebreaking procedures, which were based on goal differential against MVC opponents.
• The Bruins have reached the semifinals of a conference tournament for four-straight seasons.
• Last season, the Belmont shut out fifth-seeded East Tennessee State University 1-0 in the quarterfinals of the 2021 Southern Conference Men's Soccer Championship in Greenville, North Carolina, before upsetting top-seeded and nationally-ranked UNC Greensboro 2-1 in the semifinals of the league tournament. During the unique 2020-21 spring season amid the COVID-19 global pandemic, the Bruins upended top-seeded and 25th-ranked Furman 3-1 in the SoCon Championship semifinals.
• Belmont has shut out its last four opponents, tying the program record for consecutive shutouts, and owns eight shutouts on the year. The Bruins are just one shutout shy of tying the school record for shutouts in a single season.
• Belmont has earned 17 shutouts over two seasons, 11 of which have come at E.S. Rose Park in the Music City.
• Of the Bruins' eight shutouts this season, two have been 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. 18 Missouri State in a scoreless affair on Oct. 23.
• On a five-match unbeaten streak, the Bruins have not allowed a goal since a 1-1 draw at Bellarmine on Oct. 19.
• Belmont has earned six road results this season, including four wins, and has claimed a result in each of its last three matches away from home.
• For the second-straight week, the Bruins sit at a season-high fifth in the United Soccer Coaches West Region poll. Belmont is 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 seventh and Evansville ninth.
• In the NCAA RPI (Ratings Power Index), the Bruins are ranked 78th as the second-highest rated MVC team. The league has three teams in the top 100 of the RPI with Missouri State at No. 28 and Evansville at No. 96, while Drake sits just outside the top 100 at 105.
• A big part of its success, Belmont's defense has been terrific this season as the Bruins rank 17th in the nation in shutout percentage (.471), 26th in goals against average (0.88) and 37th in save percentage (.769).
• On Wednesday night, junior defender Case Cox, senior midfielder Jansen Wilson and junior midfielder Michael Saunders were named to the All-MVC Second Team. Both redshirt freshman defender Dylan Steely and freshman defender Riley Clothier were placed on the MVC All-Freshman Team.
• With his second-half go-ahead goal versus Eastern Illinois on Wednesday, Oct. 26, senior forward Liam 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) – and his 48 career points rank him fourth on Belmont's all-time scoring list.
• O'Brien became the Bruins' winningest player in program history on Oct. 26 with Belmont's 2-0 triumph over visiting EIU. He has been involved in 36 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 32 match wins.
• Five different Bruins have collected a total of six MVC player of the week accolades this season – Nate Logan (defensive, Aug. 30 and Sept. 27), John Bannec (defensive, Sept. 13), Michael Saunders (offensive, Sept. 27), Case Cox (offensive, Oct. 4) and Kyle Barks (defensive, Nov. 3).
• Logan ranks among national leaders in shutouts (7), goals against average (0.94), goalie minutes played (1,440), save percentage (.766) and saves (49), while Wilson is among the nation's best as a facilitator with a team and MVC-leading six assists on the season.
• Thursday will be the 16th all-time meeting between Belmont and the Purple Aces on the pitch with Evansville holding a 10-3-2 lead in the series.

About the Purple Aces

• The Purple Aces were the last team to punch their ticket to the MVC Championship semifinals after earning a 1-0 home win over sixth-seeded SIUE. In the 75th minute, All-MVC Second Team sophomore midfielder Jose Vivas scored on a corner kick for the game winner.
• Evansville finished with 12 points in the league standings, earning the No. 3 seed for the MVC Championship after going 3-2-3 in conference play. The Purple Aces' three league wins came at home versus SIUE (2-0) and Drake (3-0) and on the road at SIUE (2-1). In addition to tying the Bruins twice, Evansville drew with Bradley in a scoreless affair at home.
• The Purple Aces went 6-4-6 overall during the regular season.
• Led by eighth-year head coach Marshall Ray, Evansville features MVC Freshman of the Year Nacho Diaz. The All-MVC First Team forward is one of the most prolific scorers in the nation as his nine goals on the season lead the conference and rank 25th nationally.
• Vivas, senior midfielder Carlos Barcia, sophomore forward Kai Phillip and graduate goalkeeper Alex Vidizzoni all landed a spot on the All-MVC Second Team.
• Vidizzoni ranks 12th in the country in save percentage (.825), 16th in shutouts (7) and 21st in goals against average (.737).
• Phillip is second on the team in goals (5), while Vivas and Barcia have accounted for 11 and 10 points, respectively. Vivas owns four goals and a trio of assists and Barcia has scored three goals and is tied for the team lead in assists (4).

Up Next
The winner of Wednesday's MVC Championship semifinal match will face the winner of top-seeded Missouri State and seventh-seeded Bradley for the title and the conference's NCAA Championship bid Sunday at 1 p.m. The nationally-ranked Bears earned the right to host the league tournament's semifinals and title match at Allison South Stadium in Springfield, Missouri, after claiming their fourth-straight MVC regular season championship.
 
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