Bruins Head to Sixth-Ranked Kentucky Friday Night

 
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Making its first trip of the season, the Belmont University men's soccer team takes on sixth-ranked Kentucky Friday night at the Wendell & Vickie Bell Soccer Complex in Lexington, Kentucky. Kickoff is slated for 6:30 p.m. CT/7:30 p.m. ET.
 
The match marks the Bruins' first trip to Lexington since 2014.
 
The road contest will be streamed live on ESPN+ with Maggie Davis and Josh Braun on the call. Live stats of the match can be followed by visiting BelmontBruins.com.
 
What's Bruin

• Belmont returns to match action following last weekend's thrilling ending versus visiting Purdue University Fort Wayne. Trailing 1-0 with less than 15 minutes remaining, the Bruins got a perfectly-placed service from well outside the box from junior midfielder Michael Saunders and a tying header from junior defender Case Cox.
• Cox's goal in the 79th minute against the Mastodons preserved Belmont's undefeated streak at E.S. Rose Park. The Bruins nearly won the match in the closing seconds as a free kick by senior midfielder Jansen Wilson hit the top crossbar and a rebound header by junior forward Ayden von Essen went high.
• With the tie, Belmont extended its home unbeaten streak to 12 dating back to March 30, 2021.
• A trio of Bruins call the Bluegrass State home – junior attacking midfielder AJ Chastonay (Louisville), Cox (Louisville) and Wilson (Elizabethtown). Both Cox and Wilson are former members of the Wildcat program. All three played youth soccer in the same area of the state and Chastonay and Cox were teammates at both Saint Xavier High School and Javanon FC in Louisville.
• Cox was a member of two NCAA Championship teams at Kentucky and saw the field in 12 matches during the unique 2020-21 season, averaging 21.3 minutes an outing.
• Wilson played three seasons for the Wildcats, aiding Kentucky to three-straight NCAA Championship second round appearances and back-to-back NCAA round of 16 tournament runs. A product of Elizabethtown High School, Wilson was a member of three different top-25 squads and made 12 starts as a Wildcat. He recorded four goals and a pair of assists in 1,512 minutes across 41 matches.
• Graduate goalkeeper Nate Logan became the first Belmont student-athlete to pick up Missouri Valley Conference player of the week honors Tuesday afternoon when he was tabbed MVC Defensive Player of the Week. A key piece to the Bruins' 1-0-1 start to 2022, Logan collected a clean sheet and made eight combined saves in his first two career starts in front of the net. He tallied eight saves on nine shots on target during the opening week, posting a .889 save percentage and owning a 0.44 goals against average in 180 minutes between the pipes.
• Belmont has five wins over nationally-ranked opponents in program history, two of which came last fall against the Spartans of UNC Greensboro – at No. 25 UNCG (2-1) on Nov. 7, 2021; versus No. 16 UNCG (2-1) on Oct. 16, 2021; at No. 25 Furman (3-1) on April 9, 2021; versus No. 22 ETSU (3-1) on Sept. 29, 2011; at No. 16 Furman (2-1, OT) on Nov. 2, 2007.
• Last season, the Bruins also picked up their first tie against a nationally-ranked adversary when they played then 22nd-ranked Lipscomb to a 1-1 draw down the road on Belmont Boulevard.
• Kentucky represents the first top-10 program the Bruins have faced since taking on No. 5 Furman on Aug. 31, 2001.
• Friday night will be the sixth all-time meeting between Belmont and the Wildcats with Kentucky holding a 4-1 lead in the series.
• The Bruins defeated the visiting Wildcats 2-1 in an overtime affair in the Music City on Oct. 18, 1998, for Belmont's lone victory over Kentucky.
• Assistant coach Anthony Torres, a former Bruin defender, played all 90 minutes in Belmont's last matchup with the Wildcats on Aug. 31, 2014, in Lexington.

About the Wildcats

• Kentucky went 15-2-4 last season and tied for fourth in Conference USA with a 3-1-4 league record, before running through the C-USA Championship. After claiming the Wildcats' second C-USA Tournament championship and 11th overall conference title with a 2-1 overtime win over Florida Atlantic, Kentucky reached the Round of 16 of the 2021 NCAA Championship where it was edged 2-1 in the 89th minute by eventual national champion Clemson.
• The Wildcats are in their first season in the Sun Belt Conference and were picked third behind West Virginia and Marshall in the preseason coaches' poll.
• Kentucky features both the preseason Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Year and preseason Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year. Offensive standout Eythor Bjorgolfsson and defensive stalwart Luis Grassow, along with fifth-year defender Robert Screen, were all named preseason All-Sun Belt.
• Bjorgolfsson, a senior forward, was last season's C-USA Championship MVP, while Grassow was a United Soccer Coaches All-Southeast Region First Team selection. A senior defender, Grassow was named to the 2022 MAC Hermann Trophy watchlist prior to the season. The Hermann Trophy, presented annually by the Missouri Athletic Club, is the nation's highest individual honor recognizing the top player in the nation.
• The Wildcats began their season with a 2-0 win over fellow MVC member University of Illinois Chicago and defeated Seattle University 1-0 this past Monday.
• Kentucky has a four-match homestand to begin its season and doesn't hit the road until Sept. 11 at Tulsa.
• Bjorgolfsson, senior midfielder Nick Gutmann and fifth-year forward Danny Evans have each netted goals for the Wildcats in the first two matches of the season.

Up Next
The Bruins return to Nashville Tuesday for the 25th Battle of the Boulevard versus in-town rival Lipscomb. The Bisons are currently ranked No. 23 in the latest national poll. Kickoff from Rose Park is set for 6:30 p.m.
 
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.