Bruins Wrap Up Non-Conference Play Tuesday Evening at Rose Park

 
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Closing out its non-conference slate of matches, the Belmont University men's soccer team returns to action Tuesday evening at E.S. Rose Park with Bellarmine University visiting the Music City. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
 
The midweek matchup will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Wes Boling returning to the press box for play-by-play commentary. Live stats of the non-conference affair can be followed by visiting BelmontBruins.com.
 
What's Bruin

• The Bruins (7-4-2) are coming off a 2-1 senior night victory over Bowling Green State University Saturday night in Nashville.
• On his senior night, forward Ayden von Essen provided the game-winning goal in the 66th minute off a long pass from fellow senior Michael Saunders. Von Essen's inaugural goal of the season put Belmont up 2-1 and the Bruins held the visiting Falcons without a shot in the final 19 minutes of the match.
• Sophomore standout forward Brock Kiper gave Belmont an early 1-nil advantage just 3:39 in before Bowling Green responded in the 20th minute on a free kick from just outside the 18-yard box.
• The Bruins have won four of their last five and are riding a three-match Missouri Valley Conference winning streak.
• Belmont has scored multiple goals in five consecutive matches.
• The Bruins have scored the opening goal in nine of their 13 matches this season.
• Belmont leads the country in shot accuracy with 76 of its 137 shots on the year being placed on target (.555).
• Four different Bruins scored in Belmont's two matches last week – Case Cox (2), Sam Rowan (2), Brock Kiper (5) and Ayden von Essen (1).
• Having a breakout season, Kiper leads the Bruins in goals (5) and is second on the team in points (11). His trio of game-winning goals are tied for 17th-most nationally.
• Graduate midfielder Jansen Wilson, who garnered weekly recognition from four different outlets last week following his first career brace in the win at Bradley on Oct. 6, leads Belmont with 13 points this fall. He is second on the team in both goals (4) and assists (5).
• Sophomore defender Dylan Steely has had plenty of offensive production as of late, either scoring or assisting on a goal in his last four matches. With three goals and three assists on the season, he is third among all Bruins in goals, assists and points (9).
• Junior goalkeeper Grant Calvert, who finished with a career-high seven saves last Tuesday night in the 26th Battle of the Boulevard at rival Lipscomb, ranks among the top 50 keepers in the nation in three key statistical categories. He is 15th nationally in saves (54), 29th in saves per match (4.15) and 49th in save percentage (.771).
• Belmont and the Knights of Bellarmine have several close connections. Senior midfielder AJ Chastonay's father, Tim Chastonay, is in his 26th season leading the Knights. The elder Chastonay is the winningest coach in Bellarmine history and is the longest-tenured head coach at the school. However, AJ has gone 2-0-1 against his father over the previous three seasons. In fact, Chastonay registered a brace in his first-ever collegiate match on Feb. 21, 2021, at Bellarmine, which was a 3-0 Bruin shutout.
• Graduate forward Case Cox's younger brother, Jeffrey, is a redshirt freshman defender for the Knights. He has started the last 10 matches for Bellarmine and scored a goal at Purdue University Fort Wayne.
• The Knights' Austin Yowell, a senior defender, spent the last three seasons at Belmont. He played in 26 matches as a Bruin and scored a goal as a true freshman against Virginia Military Institute. Yowell has started all 12 matches at Bellarmine this season and notched a pair of assists.
• In the fourth NCAA RPI (Rating Percentage Index) of the season, which was released Monday morning, Belmont is one of four MVC teams in the top 100. The Bruins are up five more spots and are now ranked 74th, while Missouri State leads the Valley with the 20th-best RPI in the nation.
• The Knights enter Tuesday at No. 155 in the RPI.
• Eight of Belmont's first 12 matches of the year were away from the Music City.

 
Bruins at Home

• The Bruins have gotten a result in 26 of their last 28 matches at home, outscoring their opponents 43-17 during that stretch.
• Since the start of the 2018 season, Belmont is 24-8-9 at Rose Park.

 
Versus Bellarmine

• Tuesday night will be the fifth all-time meeting between the two programs with the Bruins holding a 2-1-1 advantage in the series.
• Last October, Belmont and Bellarmine played to a 1-1 draw in Louisville, Kentucky. Both squads scored around the midway point of the second half.
• Two seasons ago, the Bruins earned a 1-0 shutout against the Knights in Bellarmine's most recent trip to Rose Park. Belmont scored the game winner in the 73rd minute with graduate forward Esteban Leiva's first goal as a Bruin.
• The Knights' lone win in the series took place in Nashville on Sept. 12, 1994, a 4-0 rout by visiting Bellarmine.

 
About the Knights

• The Knights are 4-2-6 on the year but enter the week on a five-match unbeaten streak.
• Fresh off a 2-1 Atlantic Sun Conference home win over North Florida this past Saturday, Bellarmine has won back-to-back matches for the first time of the season. The Knights are 2-1-2 in the ASUN and in a three-way tie for second in the league.
• Bellarmine's lone common opponent with Belmont thus far this season is Lipscomb, who defeated the Knights 3-2 in Louisville on Sept. 23.
• Senior starting keeper Matthew Brozovich was named ASUN Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year, while senior defender Brock Pope and Brozovich were both tabbed preseason All-ASUN.
• Junior midfielder Brendan Schoemehl leads Bellarmine with three goals and Pope has tallied a team-best four assists this fall. Including Pope, four different Knights have recorded two goals this fall.

 
Up Next
The Bruins begin a two-match stretch on the road Sunday afternoon at Northern Illinois. Kickoff from the NIU Soccer and Track & Field Complex in DeKalb, Illinois, is set for 1 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.