Bruins Head to Chicago for MVC Soccer Championship First Round

 
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – After securing a spot in the 2023 Missouri Valley Conference Men's Soccer Championship Wednesday night at E.S. Rose Park, the Belmont University men's soccer team travels to Chicago for the conference tournament's opening round versus the University of Illinois Chicago Sunday afternoon. Kickoff between the sixth-seeded Bruins (8-6-3, 3-4-1 MVC) and the third-seeded Flames (10-4-3, 4-2-2 MVC) is set for 1 p.m. from Flames Field in the Windy City.
 
The first-round matchup will be broadcast live on ESPN+ with Sam Brief providing play-by-play commentary of the action. Live stats of the postseason match can be followed by visiting BelmontBruins.com.
 
What's Bruin

• For the second consecutive year, Belmont is facing UIC in the de facto quarterfinals of the MVC Championship. Last November, the fifth-seeded Bruins defeated the fourth-seeded Flames in a single-goal affair at Flames Field. Senior forward Ayden von Essen provided the differentiating goal off a feed from senior midfielder AJ Chastonay in the 16th minute.
• Last season's 1-0 victory at UIC in the first round of the MVC Championship was Belmont's first-ever Valley postseason win in any sport. The Bruins joined the MVC in 2022 after both the men's and women's soccer programs were affiliate members of the league during the 2000 season.
• Needing a result Wednesday evening at home against the University of Evansville to punch its ticket to the MVC Championship, Belmont delivered. The Bruins earned a 2-2 draw after falling behind 1-0 in the 23rd minute. Second-half scores from sophomore forward Brock Kiper and graduate midfielder Jansen Wilson all but sealed Belmont's postseason fate.
• Kiper evened the score with the visiting Purple Aces in the 54th minute on Kiper boot before Wilson converted on a free kick from just past the penalty area in the 85th minute. The Bruins looked poised for a 2-1 win in the regular season finale, but Evansville evened the match with just over 100 seconds remaining on a determined strike from just outside the six-yard box.
• Finishing MVC play with 10 points, Belmont tied Northern Illinois for fifth place in the final conference standings. The Huskies, via their 1-0 win over the Bruins on Oct. 22 in Illinois, earned the No. 5 seed as Belmont claimed the final spot in the MVC bracket.
• The Bruins have reached their conference's postseason tournament for six-straight seasons.
• Belmont has made the semifinals of a conference championship for four consecutive seasons.
• The Bruins have reached a postseason tournament title match two of the last three years with back-to-back appearances in the Southern Conference Championship finals in the spring and fall of 2021.
• Fifth-year head coach David Costa is 6-4 in conference tournament matches and Belmont is a perfect 4-0 in its opening postseason matches under his leadership.
• The Bruins scored the opening goal in 10 of their first 14 matches of the season.
• With a 1-0 win over visiting Bellarmine University on Oct. 17, Belmont completed its regular season non-conference schedule 5-2-2.
• The Bruins are 17th in the country in shot accuracy with 93 of their 191 shots on the season landing on target (.487).
• Six different Belmont players have scored in the Bruins' last seven matches – sophomore forward Brock Kiper (2), graduate midfielder Jansen Wilson (3), senior midfielder Sam Rowan (2), senior forward Ayden von Essen (1), graduate forward Case Cox (1) and junior defender Alex Clayton (1).
• Having a breakout season, Kiper leads Belmont in goals (6) and is second on the team in points (13). His trio of game-winning goals are tied for 35th-most nationally.
• Wilson, who registered his first career brace in the 3-1 win at Bradley on Oct. 6, leads the Bruins with 15 points this fall. He is second on the team in both goals (5) and assists (5).
• Senior midfielder Michael Saunders earned an assist Wednesday on Wilson's goal against the Purple Aces. It was his team-leading seventh of the year and Belmont-best 14th of his career.
• Clayton notched his first career assist Wednesday on Kiper's equalizer versus Evansville.
• Sophomore defender Dylan Steely has had plenty of offensive production this year, either scoring or assisting on a goal in five different matches. With three goals and three assists on the season, he is third among all Bruins in points (9).
• Junior goalkeeper Grant Calvert ranks among the top 35 keepers in the nation in both saves (65) and saves per match (4.06).
• In the sixth NCAA RPI (Rating Percentage Index) of the season, which was released this past Monday morning, Belmont is one of five MVC teams in the top 100. The Bruins moved up a spot this week and are now ranked 75th, while Missouri State and Western Michigan lead the Valley with the 20th and 21st-best RPIs in the nation.
• The Flames are No. 37 in the RPI as the MVC's third-highest rated team.
• Eight of Belmont's first 12 matches of the season were away from Nashville.

 
Versus UIC

• Sunday afternoon will be the ninth all-time meeting between the two programs with UIC holding a 6-1-1 advantage in the series.
• On Sept. 16, the visiting Flames snapped the Bruins' 20-match home unbeaten streak, which was the second-longest in the nation, with a 2-0 triumph at Rose Park. UIC forward Bart Muns scored both goals in the 7th and 82nd minutes.
• Prior to this season's loss to the Flames, Belmont had gotten a result in its previous two matchups with UIC.
• Last fall, the Bruins opened the month of October with a 3-3 home draw against the Flames. In a wild affair, Belmont took a 2-0 lead in the opening 20 minutes before UIC responded with three consecutive goals spanning from late in the first half to the 59th minute. Cox proved to be the difference for the Bruins, becoming the first Belmont player to register a hat trick at Rose Park since 2019 with his 89th-minute match-tying goal. Wilson assisted on both of Cox's early scores.

 
About the Flames

• The Flames completed the regular season Monday in Chicago with a 2-1 non-conference victory over Villanova.
• UIC went 4-2-2 against the Valley with conference losses versus Western Michigan (1-0) on Sept. 30 and at Bowling Green (3-1) on Oct. 18. The Flames played nationally-ranked Missouri State to a scoreless draw on the road on Oct. 8 and tied Bradley 1-1 in Peoria, Illinois, on Oct. 22. In its most recent MVC match, UIC defeated Northern Illinois 2-0 at home last Friday.
• Led by 14th-year head coach Sean Phillips, the Flames lead the Valley and are ranked 18th in the nation in shots per match (15.06). UIC is also ranked in the top 25 nationally and is second in the MVC in both goals (33) and assists (34). The Flames average 6.3 shots on goal per outing, which is 22nd-most in Division I men's soccer.
• Junior Muns, a junior college transfer, leads UIC with eight goals and 22 points this fall.
• Fellow junior forward Joshua Torres, a Preseason All-MVC Team pick who earned first-team all-conference honors last season, is second on the team with seven goals and five assists this year.
• Redshirt junior defender Jesus De Vicente, also a junior college transfer, is one of the best goal creators in the nation with an MVC-best 11 assists. He is fourth in the country in total assists and is tied for eighth in assists per match (0.62).
• Four different Flames have found the back of the net at least three times this season.
• UIC's .789 save percentage ranks 23rd nationally.

 
Up Next
With a win Sunday, the Bruins will advance to the MVC Championship semifinals where they will take on top-seeded and tournament host Western Michigan at the WMU Soccer Complex in Kalamazoo, Michigan, Wednesday afternoon.
 
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.