EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Closing out a four-match stretch away from the Music City, the Belmont University men's soccer team earned a dominant 4-0 road shutout at Southern Indiana Tuesday night in non-conference road action. The Bruins (3-1-2) scored all four of their goals in the opening 33 minutes of the match with four different players finding the back of the net.
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Sophomore forward
Brock Kiper, graduate midfielder
Jansen Wilson, sophomore defender
Dylan Steely and freshman defender
AJ Elliott all notched a goal as the Bruins built their attack early and often.
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Belmont posted season highs in both shots (17) and shots on target (11) with eight first-half shots on goal.
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It took the Bruins only six minutes to get on the board, scoring their first goal of the night when senior midfielder
Michael Saunders placed a ball into the box from the right side. Graduate forward
Case Cox nearly headed the ball in before Kiper tapped in the rebound.
In the 14th minute, Wilson converted on a free kick from well outside the penalty box. From the upper left-hand side, Wilson sent in a ball that bounced past the Screaming Eagles' goalkeeper to give Belmont a 2-nil lead.
It was Steely in the 20th minute who launched a strike off of a corner kick from Saunders, earning his first goal of the season and second of his career.
Making his collegiate debut, Elliott scored on his second touch. In the match for just over a minute, Elliott rose up for a header by the right post after Wilson played a ball to senior forward
Ayden von Essen, who fed in a perfectly-timed cross.
Taking a 4-0 lead into the break, the Bruins settled into their defensive shape and closed out the match with controlled play on both sides of the field.
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The trio of junior
Grant Calvert, redshirt freshman
Patrick Schott and senior
Aaron Stafford earned a combined shutout between the pipes, tallying three saves. Calvert had a remarkable leaping save in the first half and Schott came up with a pair of stops in the second half.
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Southern Indiana (0-6-0) totaled nine shots and registered six corners. The Screaming Eagles' Andrew Klott and Alec Meissner made a combined seven saves in front of goal.
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Of Note
- Belmont's four goals are the most in a match since the Bruins also scored four in a 4-0 home win over Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis on Oct. 5, 2021.
- It marks the first time Belmont has scored four goals in a single half since Aug. 27, 2017, when the Bruins put four between the posts in the first half of a 6-1 home win over Niagara.
- Belmont improves to 2-0 all-time versus Southern Indiana.
- For the second consecutive outing, Wilson found the back of the net. His goal on the set piece was his second donning the Bruin jersey and sixth of his career.
- Kiper's score was his team-leading third goal of the season.
- Saunders' assist on Steely's goal was his third of the season and Belmont-leading 10th of his career.
- In addition to Elliott, Schott and Stafford made their Bruin debuts.
- In only his second career appearance, senior defender
Colton Milosch played the entirety of the second half.
- Sophomore defender
Riley Clothier made his season debut.
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Up Next
Belmont returns to Nashville this weekend where the Bruins will begin Missouri Valley Conference play by welcoming the University of Illinois Chicago Saturday. Kickoff from Rose Park is scheduled for 6 p.m. with the Valley match broadcast on
ESPN+.
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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.
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#ItsBruinTime
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