Men's Soccer Hosts UIC Saturday to Begin MVC Slate

 
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Beginning Missouri Valley Conference play, the Belmont University men's soccer team welcomes the University of Illinois Chicago to E.S. Rose Park Saturday evening. A rematch of last season's MVC Championship quarterfinal, Saturday's primetime Valley opener is set for a 6 p.m. kickoff from the Music City.
 
The weekend matchup will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Wes Boling on the call. Live stats of the home contest can be followed by visiting BelmontBruins.com.

Saturday will be the Bruins' annual Alumni Match with former Belmont players reconnecting with the program through various planned activities over the weekend.
 
What's Bruin

• The Bruins (3-1-2, 0-0-0 MVC) return home following a four-match, 20-day stretch away from Nashville. Belmont went 2-1-1 on its lengthy road trip with victories over Houston Christian University (neutral site) and Southern Indiana.
• Fresh off a dominant road win in Evansville, Indiana, Tuesday night at Southern Indiana, the Bruins are looking to add another three points to their résumé.
• Belmont claimed its second shutout of the season in its 4-0 rout of the host Screaming Eagles, racking up all four goals in the first half with four different Bruins scoring.
• Sophomore forward Brock Kiper (6'), graduate midfielder Jansen Wilson (14'), sophomore defender Dylan Steely (20') and freshman defender AJ Elliott (33') all found the back of the net Tuesday.
• The four goals scored against Southern Indiana were the most in a match since Belmont also scored four in a 4-0 home win over Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis on Oct. 5, 2021. It marked the first time the Bruins scored four goals in a single half since Aug. 27, 2017, when Belmont put four between the pipes against Niagara in the first half of a 6-1 home win.
• For the second consecutive outing, Wilson scored. Kiper's early conversion was his team-leading third goal of the season.
• Making his collegiate debut, Elliott scored on only his second touch. He was in the match for just over a minute before senior forward Ayden von Essen found Elliott cutting toward the back post. Elliott rose up for the scoring header as von Essen's perfectly-timed cross was his first assist donning the Bruin jersey.
• Quite a few players saw action in Tuesday's road triumph. Notably, goalkeepers redshirt freshman Patrick Schott and senior Aaron Stafford made their Belmont 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.
• The Bruins have scored the first goal in all six of their matches this year.

 
Bruins at Home

• Belmont holds a 20-match home unbeaten streak which dates back to March 30, 2021, and the Bruins have gotten a result in 22 of their last 24 matches at Rose Park.
• During its home undefeated streak, which is the second-longest in the nation (University of Portland - 21), Belmont has outscored its opponents 28-9.
• The Bruins are 22-7-9 at Rose Park since the start of the 2018 season.

 
Versus UIC

• Saturday will be the eighth all-time meeting between the two programs. Although UIC holds a 5-1-1 advantage in the series, Belmont has gotten a result in both of the last two meetings.
• It is the second-straight season the Bruins will host the Flames during the regular season. Last fall, Belmont opened the month of October with a 3-3 home draw against UIC. In a wild affair the Bruins took a 2-0 lead in the opening 20 minutes before the Flames responded with three consecutive goals spanning from late in the first half to the 59th minute. Case Cox proved to be the difference for Belmont, becoming the first Bruin to register a hat trick at Rose Park since 2019 with his 89th-minute match-tying goal. Wilson assisted on both of Cox's first-half scores.
• In the quarterfinals of the 2022 MVC Men's Soccer Championship last November, fifth-seeded Belmont traveled to Chicago where the Bruins defeated fourth-seeded UIC in a single-goal match. Von Essen broke through in the 16th minute and Belmont's defense held the rest of the way.

 
About the Flames

• The Flames (4-1-1, 0-0-0 MVC) enter the weekend with only one blemish thus far this season and ranked fourth in the latest United Soccer Coaches West Region poll.
• UIC's lone loss came Monday night at now 19th-ranked Northwestern (4-1).
• The Flames also played Oakland to a 2-2 draw at home on Sept. 1 but have earned four victories in Chicago against New Jersey Institute of Technology (3-1), the University of St. Thomas (3-0), Wisconsin (2-0), and at Loyola Chicago (2-1) last Friday.
• Picked to finish sixth in the MVC according to the conference's preseason coaches poll, UIC went 3-4-1 against the Valley last fall and finished 5-9-2 overall. The Flames tied the Bruins for fourth in last year's final MVC standings.
• Junior forward Joshua Torres, who has scored twice this season, was named to the Preseason All-MVC Team after collecting first-team honors in 2022.
• Graduate forward Sidney Warden, a NCAA Division II Mercyhurst University transfer, leads UIC with a trio of goals. Redshirt junior defender Jesus De Vicente, an Iowa Western Community College transfer, leads the team in assists with three.
• Sophomore defender Paul Brauckmann, who owns a goal on six shots this season, earned All-MVC honorable mention recognition last November.
• Four different Flames have scored at least two goals this year.

 
Up Next
Belmont will hit the road next weekend for a Friday matchup at four-time defending MVC regular season and three-time defending conference tournament champion Missouri State, who is currently ranked in the top 15 nationally. Kickoff from Betty and Bobby Allison South Stadium in Springfield, Missouri, is scheduled for 7 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.