Bruins Travel to Illinois, Take on Bradley Friday Night

 
PEORIA, Ill. – Following back-to-back victories, the Belmont University men's soccer team returns to the pitch Friday night for a primetime road match at Bradley University. Kickoff of the Missouri Valley Conference tilt is slated for 7 p.m. from Shea Stadium in Peoria, Illinois.
 
The contest will be broadcast on ESPN+ and live stats can be followed by visiting BelmontBruins.com.
 
What's Bruin

• The Bruins (5-3-2, 1-2-0 MVC) picked up their first MVC win of the season in dramatic fashion last time out, scoring two goals in the final nine minutes of a thrilling 2-1 comeback against Drake last Sunday afternoon at E.S. Rose Park. Sophomore forward Brock Kiper provided the game winner with a header in the 85th minute on a free kick from graduate midfielder Jansen Wilson. It was sophomore defender Dylan Steely who registered the equalizer in the 81st minute with a header off a Wilson corner kick.
• Last Sunday's home triumph, the first in program history versus the Bulldogs, marked Belmont's first back-to-back wins of the season. Last Tuesday afternoon, the Bruins earned a 3-1 victory in non-conference action at Presbyterian College.
• Belmont tallied a season-high 11 corners in last weekend's win over Drake while putting nine of 16 shots on target. Although the Bruins were only able to find the back of the net twice, the offensive performance was one of the best for Belmont this year.
• Scoring the go-ahead goal and assisting on the Bruins' final tally last week at Presbyterian before Sunday's equalizer, Steely notched five points for the week. For his efforts, he landed a spot on his first national team of the week. On Tuesday, the Hoover, Alabama (Hoover HS), native was named to the Top Drawer Soccer Team of the Week. Steely, a member of the 2022 MVC All-Freshman Team and MVC All-Tournament Team, has had a lot of offensive production this season with the second-most goals (3) on the team.
• Wilson assisted on three of Belmont's five goals last week, including both set-piece goals in Sunday's comeback victory. It was Wilson's fourth two-assist match of his career and second of the season. He also had a pair of assists in the Bruins' 2-1 neutral-site win over Houston Christian in Birmingham, Alabama, on Sept. 1. The Elizabethtown, Kentucky (Elizabethtown HS), native leads Belmont and is ranked 26th in the nation with five assists on the year. Wilson owns a Belmont-best 11 assists as a Bruin.
• Kiper leads the Bruins with four goals this fall, scoring in four different matches. His trio of game-winning goals are eighth-most nationally.
• Six of Belmont's last eight matches have been away from Nashville and eight of the Bruins' first 12 games of the season are either on the road or at a neutral site.
• In the second NCAA RPI (Rating Percentage Index) of the season, which was released Monday morning, Belmont is one of six MVC teams in the top 100. The Bruins check in at No. 99 while Missouri State leads the Valley with the 14th-best RPI in the nation.
• Bradley is just two spots ahead of Belmont in the RPI at No. 97.
• Junior goalkeeper Grant Calvert ranks among the top 35 keepers in the nation in three key statistical categories. He is 21st nationally in saves (40), 27th in save percentage (.800) and 33rd in saves per match (4.0).
• The Bruins scored the first goal in their first six matches of the season.

 
Versus Bradley

• Friday night will be the eighth all-time meeting between the two teams with the host Braves holding a 4-2-1 advantage in the series.
• Bradley is 3-0-1 against Belmont in Peoria, Illinois, with the Bruins playing the Braves to a scoreless draw in their last visit to Shea Stadium on Aug. 30, 2019. That 2019 season opener was fifth-year head coach David Costa's regular season debut as Belmont's leader.
• Last September, the Bruins defeated visiting Bradley 2-1 in the Music City. The win was Belmont's first in the Valley. Steely put the Bruins up 1-0 in the 10th minute and forward Liam O'Brien gave Belmont a 2-0 lead in the 59th. The Braves' lone goal of the evening came in the 80th minute. Wilson and senior midfielder Michael Saunders assisted on the two goals.

 
About the Braves

• Picked to finish ninth out of nine teams in the preseason MVC poll, Bradley is 4-2-4 overall and 0-2-0 in Valley play.
• The Braves have gotten results against Chicago State (2-1), the University of Missouri-Kansas City (0-0), DePaul (1-0), Eastern Illinois (2-1), Western Illinois (4-0), Mercer (1-1), SIUE (1-1), and the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay (0-0).
• Undefeated through its first eight matches of the season, Bradley has lost both of its first two MVC matches. Last Saturday, the Braves were routed 6-0 at home by nationally-ranked Missouri State after dropping a 3-1 decision at Bowling Green the previous Saturday on Sept. 23.
• Bradley finished last in the Valley last fall after going 1-6-1 against the conference and 5-11-3 overall.
• Junior forward Jamaine "Kevin" Mejias, an Indian Hills Community College transfer, leads the Braves with three goals this season, while junior midfielders Joao Saraiva and Jared Sinnaeve have each scored twice. Freshman forward Djibognihou "DJ" Koulai has assisted on three of Bradley's 12 goals.

 
Up Next
The Bruins make the short trek down the opposite end of Belmont Boulevard next Tuesday where Belmont will face nearby rival Lipscomb in the 26th Battle of the Boulevard. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. from the Lipscomb Soccer Complex. The non-conference match will be broadcast on ESPN+.
 
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.