Bruins Face Top-10 Ranked Missouri State on the Road Friday

 
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – For the third-straight season, the Belmont University men's soccer team makes the trip to nationally-ranked Missouri State. Following a six-day break from match play without a midweek contest, the Bruins take on the Bears Friday night in Springfield, Missouri. Kickoff from Betty and Bobby Allison South Stadium is set for 7 p.m.
 
The marquee Missouri Valley Conference matchup will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Casey Roehl on the call. Live stats of the road match can be followed by visiting BelmontBruins.com.
 
What's Bruin

• Belmont (3-2-2, 0-1-0 MVC) is seeking its first victory in the Valley this season after suffering a 2-0 setback to the University of Illinois Chicago in the league opener last Saturday in Nashville.
• For the first time in 900 days, the Bruins were defeated at E.S. Rose Park. The Flames snapped Belmont's 20-match home unbeaten streak, which dated back to March 30, 2021, and was the second-longest in the nation. The two goals conceded to UIC marked the first time the Bruins allowed multiple goals at Rose Park since their 2022 home matchup with the Flames last October.
• Friday night will be Belmont's fifth match away from home already this year. The Bruins spent 20 days on the road prior to hosting UIC last weekend.
• Belmont is 1-1 in true road contests this season, falling 2-1 at the University of Memphis before earning a dominant 4-0 win at Southern Indiana on Sept. 12 in its last match away from the Music City. The Bruins also went 1-0-1 at the University of Alabama at Birmingham's Soccer for the Cure Classic in Birmingham, Alabama, where they earned a 2-1 win over Houston Christian University and knotted Chicago State 1-1.
• Facing its first nationally-ranked opponent of the season, Belmont will challenge a top-10 team for the first time since traveling to sixth-ranked Kentucky early last September. The Bruins' last match against a ranked team was on senior day last October when Belmont hosted the 18th-ranked Bears and earned a scoreless draw.
• The Bruins own five wins over nationally-ranked opponents in program history, two of which came in the fall of 2021 against the Spartans of UNC Greensboro – at No. 25 UNCG (2-1) on Nov. 7, 2021; versus No. 16 UNCG (2-1) on Oct. 16, 2021; at No. 25 Furman (3-1) on April 9, 2021; versus No. 22 ETSU (3-1) on Sept. 29, 2011; at No. 16 Furman (2-1, OT) on Nov. 2, 2007.
• Belmont has also tied a nationally-ranked foe three times with a pair of draws in the last two Battle of the Boulevard matchups – versus No. 18 Missouri State (0-0) on Oct. 23, 2022; versus No. 17 Lipscomb (0-0) on Sept. 6, 2022; at No. 22 Lipscomb (1-1) on Sept. 14, 2021.
• Sophomore forward Brock Kiper leads the Bruins in scoring with a trio of goals this season.
• Graduate midfielder Jansen Wilson has found the back of the net in two of Belmont's last three outings.
• Three different Bruins have tallied at least two assists this season, including a team-leading three helpers from senior midfielder Michael Saunders.
• Junior goalkeeper Grant Calvert ranks among the top 50 keepers in the nation in three key statistical categories. He is 26th nationally in saves (28), 38th in save percentage (.800) and 45th in saves per match (4.0).
• Senior midfielder Sam Rowan is a native of Missouri, hailing from Wentzville outside of St. Louis. He prepped at Holt High School and competed for St. Louis Scott Gallagher SC.
• From Stilwell, Kansas, which is just over the Missouri/Kansas state line about two-and-a-half hours northwest of Springfield, Missouri, Calvert starred at Blue Valley High School and played for Sporting Kansas City Academy.
• Belmont has scored the opening goal in six of its first seven matches this year.

 
Versus Missouri State

• This weekend marks the 10th all-time meeting between the Bruins and Bears with Missouri State holding a 5-2-2 lead in the series.
• Belmont's scoreless draw against the Bears at Rose Park last October was the Bruins' first result in the series since Sept. 7, 2013.
• For three consecutive seasons from 2011-13, Belmont earned a result against Missouri State. The Bruins defeated the Bears 2-1 in double overtime at home in 2013 and also earned a 2-1 win at Missouri State in 2011, their lone victory in Springfield.
• Belmont is 1-3-1 versus the Bears in Missouri, earning a 1-1 road draw in August of 2012.
• The Bruins are 0-3 in their last three trips to Missouri State with a 2-0 loss against the then 19th-ranked Bears last October and a 3-1 defeat at the hands of the nation's 12th-ranked team in August of 2021.
• Missouri State's current ranking represents the highest the Bears have been ranked when facing Belmont.
• With their scoreless draw last October in Nashville, the Bruins snapped Missouri State's 15-match MVC win streak. Belmont became the first team to earn a draw with the nationally-ranked Bears in MVC play since Oct. 27, 2018. Missouri State entered the match 32-1-0 in Valley regular season matches since the start of the 2019 season, the best league run nationally during that period.

 
About the Bears

• The Bears (4-0-1, 1-0-0 MVC) are the four-time defending MVC regular season and three-time defending conference tournament champions.
• Reaching each of the last four NCAA Championships, Missouri State is the third of seven programs on the Bruins' schedule who made at least one of the last two national tournaments – Georgia State (Aug. 24), Memphis (Sept. 8), Missouri State (Sept. 22), Lipscomb (Oct. 10), Bowling Green (Oct. 14), Northern Illinois (Oct. 22) and Western Michigan (Oct. 27).
• The Bears opened up their campaign with a 1-nil win at 14th-ranked Maryland and also own victories over Kansas City (1-0), VCU (1-0) and Northern Illinois (3-0). Missouri State's win over the visiting Rams of VCU on Sept. 9 was its lone home match. The Bears' only tie came on Sept. 5 at Tulsa, a 1-1 draw.
• With just one goal conceded thus far this season and four shutouts, Missouri State is third in the nation in both shutout percentage (.800) and team goals against average (0.20). The Bears also rank sixth nationally in save percentage (.857).
• Like graduate forward Case Cox, Missouri State's duo of senior forward Jesus Barea and senior midfielder Kian Yari were named to the preseason watch list for the 2023 Hermann Trophy.
• Ranked ninth in the United Soccer Coaches Top 25 poll, the Bears are eighth in the latest College Soccer News Top 30 poll and 15th in this week's TopDrawerSoccer.com national rankings.
• Both Barea and senior midfielder Jack Denton have scored twice this year, while Yari has assisted on two goals.
• Barea was the 2022 MVC Player of the Year and Denton claimed MVC Midfielder of the Year honors last fall. Senior defender Javier Martin Gil, Barea, Denton and Yari are all reigning All-MVC First Team selections.

 
Up Next
Belmont steps out of Valley play Tuesday when the Bruins travel to Presbyterian College out of the Big South Conference for a matinee road tilt. Kickoff from Martin Stadium in Clinton, South Carolina, is slated for 3 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.