Men's Soccer Welcomes Purdue Fort Wayne to Rose Park Sunday

 
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Off to a 1-0 start to its 2022 campaign, the Belmont University men's soccer team is back at E.S. Rose Park this weekend for a Sunday afternoon matchup with Purdue University Fort Wayne. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m.
 
The home match will be streamed live on ESPN+ with Reily Chestnut providing play-by-play of the contest. Live stats can be followed by visiting BelmontBruins.com.
 
What's Bruin

• A fourth career brace from senior forward Liam O'Brien and a clean sheet from graduate goalkeeper Nate Logan in his first career start gave the Bruins a 2-0 season opening victory over visiting Southern Indiana Thursday night at Rose Park.
• O'Brien found the back of the net twice (25' and 60') with the help of great passing from junior midfielders AJ Chastonay and Michael Saunders and junior defender Case Cox, who all earned assists.
• Belmont is looking to win back-to-back matches to start its season for the first time since 2008.
• The Bruins have won 11-straight at home dating back to March 30, 2021. Of those 11 consecutive home wins, eight have been shutouts. Belmont has outscored its opponents 18-3 during its home win streak.
• Since the start of last season, the Bruins have recorded 10 shutouts.
• With his two-goal night Thursday, O'Brien now has 19 goals to his name and is in sole possession of third place on Belmont's all-time career goals list.
• Seventeen different Bruins saw action on Belmont's new FIFA-certified synthetic turf in the opener as freshman defender Riley Clothier and redshirt freshman defender Dylan Steely both started in their first collegiate regular season match.
• Sunday's matinee match will be the third all-time meeting between the two teams with the series even at 1-1.
• Purdue Fort Wayne defeated the Bruins 2-1 on Sept. 13, 2019, in Indiana and Belmont claimed a 4-0 win over the Mastodons on Sept. 18, 2011, in the first season at Rose Park.
• The Bruins have won 13 of their last 15 home matches and are 19-7-3 at Rose Park since the start of the 2018 season.

About the Mastodons

• Purdue Fort Wayne, a member of the Horizon League, enters the weekend 0-1 after dropping a 6-2 decision at nearby rival Lipscomb Thursday.
• Tied for eighth in the Horizon League preseason predicted order of finish, the Mastodons went 5-9-2 overall and 3-6-1 in conference play last season. Purdue Fort Wayne finished ninth in the then 11-team Horizon League.
• Redshirt junior midfielder Cesar Cosio (6') and redshirt senior forward Keith Larson (28') scored goals Thursday night at Lipscomb. The Mastodons trailed the Bisons 3-2 at halftime before surrendering a trio of goals in the second half.
• Led by third-year head coach Stephen Gorton, Purdue Fort Wayne features 14 newcomers and redshirt senior forward Alex Frank, a 2019 All-Summit League Second Team selection. After his first two seasons as a Mastodon, Frank transferred to the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) for two seasons before returning to Purdue Fort Wayne.
• The Mastodons were previously in the Summit League before joining the Horizon League in 2020.

Up Next
Belmont travels to nationally-ranked Kentucky next Friday for its first road test of 2022.
 
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.