Men's Soccer Notches Eighth Win of Season, Earns 1-0 Shutout Versus Bellarmine

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A third-straight win at E.S. Rose Park and a third shutout of the season, the Belmont University men's soccer team wrapped up its non-conference slate Tuesday evening on a high note with a 1-0 victory against visiting Bellarmine University. Senior midfielder Sam Rowan provided the game winner in the 77th minute, a left-footed strike from 26 yards out.
 
Claiming their fifth win in six outings, the Bruins (8-4-2) were spectacular in their defensive half as redshirt freshman goalkeeper Patrick Schott registered a clean sheet in his first career start.
 
Belmont gave up very little, especially in the first half where the Bruins allowed only three shots and held the Knights (4-3-6) without a corner kick. Following several promising attacks and a 73rd-minute corner, Belmont found an opening and Rowan converted on his opportunity. Rowan's goal was the Bruins' lone shot on target of the night.
 
Creating chances in the first half, Belmont held a large margin in possession and earned a trio of corners. Getting his first start of the season, graduate forward Esteban Leiva nearly connected on a cross from senior midfielder Michael Saunders in the 22nd minute. Inside the final minute of the opening half, junior defender Alex Calyton worked his way inside the 18-yard box and nearly put a hard-struck left-footed shot into the back of the net.
 
Bellarmine's only real threat in the first half came in the 35th minute when Knight forward Chris Shust pressed on a Schott attempted clear and came within inches of placing the ball between the pipes. He leaped on Schott's kick and the ball deflected toward goal off his midsection, barely missing the left post.
 
With both teams working the ball into the attacking third in the second half, graduate midfielder Jansen Wilson looked poised to put the Bruins in front. Finding himself wide open in the center of the field at the 67th minute, Wilson collected a pass from senior midfielder AJ Chastonay and drilled the ball from 40 yards out. However, his attempt drifted just left of the goal.
 
Nearly 10 minutes later, Rowan took a similar stab approximately 14 yards closer and the ball was redirected to the bottom-left corner of the net. Freshman defender AJ Elliott, who had attempted a first-half bicycle goal, worked around a Bellarmine defender and passed off the ball to a sprinting Rowan at the top of the penalty area. Without hesitation, Rowan launched his third goal of the season. The assist was Elliott's first of his career.
 
Another Wilson shot, this time from the upper-right corner of the 18 only a minute after Rowan's goal, sailed just past the right post.
 
Seeking a draw, the Knights had a pair of shots in the closing 10 minutes. Bellarmine was rewarded a free kick from just inside their attacking half with two-and-a-half minutes to go, but Schott came up with a save in heavy traffic inside the six-yard box. Moments later, Schott snagged the ball from midair on a Knight desperation kick from midfield as time expired.
 
Bellarmine secured three corners in the second half.
 
Schott finished with three saves, while senior defender Colton Milosch also made his first career start and played all 90 minutes.
 
Of Note
- Tuesday was the first time Belmont didn't score multiple goals since Sept. 22 at top-10 ranked Missouri State.
- The Bruins have scored the first goal in 10 of their 14 matches this season.
- Belmont improves to 3-1-1 all-time versus the Knights.
- The Bruins have gotten a result in 27 of their last 29 matches at Rose Park, outscoring their opponents 44-17 during that stretch.
- Since the start of the 2018 season, Belmont is 25-8-9 at home.
- Rowan has scored a goal in two of the last three matches.
- AJ Chastonay improves to 3-0-1 against his father, Tim Chastonay, who is in his 26th season leading the Bellarmine program.
 
Up Next
The Bruins return to Missouri Valley Conference play and head to Northern Illinois this weekend to begin a two-match stretch on the road. Belmont will take on the Huskies Sunday afternoon at the NIU Soccer and Track & Field Complex in DeKalb, Illinois, at 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.