NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Defending its home turf at E.S. Rose Park, the Belmont University men's soccer team put on a defensive clinic against one of the top offenses in the nation Tuesday night and earned a scoreless draw with 17th-ranked Lipscomb in the 25th Battle of the Boulevard.
Â
The Bruins (1-1-2) extended their home unbeaten streak to 13 following a second-straight tie versus the nationally-ranked and defending ASUN Conference champion Bisons (3-0-1).
Â
With a boisterous capacity crowd that encircled the pitch, Belmont made several strong defensive stands with fantastic play from its back line. Negating 12 Lipscomb shots, the Bruins had an answer for every convincing Bison attack.
Graduate goalkeeper
Nate Logan made a pair of saves in the rivalry match as the two teams were nearly even in corner kicks with Lipscomb holding a slight 6-5 advantage.
All three of Belmont's first-half looks at goal came in the opening 24 minutes of the contest. A tremendous save by the Bisons' Michael Sibley kept senior midfielder
Jansen Wilson out of the net in the 10th minute before Wilson launched a rocket off his right foot that collided with the upper right crossbar in the 24th minute following a corner kick.
Â
Lipscomb recorded a trio of shots in the final 10 minutes of the half but two flew wide right.
It didn't take long in the second half for Wilson to have another crack at goal, striking the woodwork once again in the 51st minute. Junior attacking midfielder
AJ Chastonay had a header on target in the 67th minute and senior forward
Liam O'Brien nearly came up with a game-winner in the 88th minute. On a breakaway, O'Brien slowed his stride near the top of the box and connected on a left-footed missile that soared just above the top left crossbar.
Despite the Bruins not allowing the Bisons a shot across the final six minutes of the match, Lipscomb had a flurry of opportunities after 80 minutes of action. The Bisons sent a shot out right in 82nd minute and had two more shots fly wide right and high right in the 84th minute.
Freshman defender
Riley Clothier provided Belmont with 90 minutes of outstanding play in the defensive third of the field as he held preseason ASUN Player of the Year Tyrese Spicer to a solo shot on goal.
The intense rivalry saw a total of six cautions, including two yellow cards by both squads in the second half.
Of Note
The tie is the Bruins' second against a top-25 opponent after Belmont played then 22nd-ranked Lipscomb to a 1-1 draw last season (Sept. 14, 2021). The Bruins' 13-match home unbeaten streak dates back to March 30, 2021. Belmont has outscored its opponents 19-4 at Rose Park during its home undefeated streak. The Bruins have gotten a result in 15 of their last 17 home matches and are 19-7-5 at Rose Park since the start of the 2018 season. The Bisons entered Tuesday with 10 goals through their first three matches of the season.
Up Next
Belmont continues non-conference action this weekend when the Bruins travel to Big South Conference member UNC Asheville Saturday for a 3:30 p.m. CT tilt in North Carolina. Next Saturday, Sept. 17, Belmont begins Missouri Valley Conference play by hosting Bradley.
Â
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 theÂ
official app of the Belmont Bruins, available both in the Apple App Store and on Google Play.
Â
#ItsBruinTime
Â
