Men's Soccer Heads to the Windy City, Faces UIC Friday Night

 
CHICAGO – Following a four-match homestand, the Belmont University men's soccer team returns to action on the road Friday night in Chicago. The Bruins take on the University of Illinois Chicago at 7 p.m. from Flames Field in the Windy City.
 
The Missouri Valley Conference road matchup will be broadcast on ESPN+ and live stats can be followed by visiting BelmontBruins.com.
 
What's Bruin

• The Bruins (3-7-3, 0-4-1 MVC) are still in search of their first MVC win of the season after dropping a 2-1 decision last Saturday evening at home to then 17th-ranked Missouri State.
• Belmont is also looking for its first road victory of the year. The Bruins are 0-4-2 away from the Music City this fall.
• Friday will be Belmont's first road match since Sept. 27 at then receiving-votes Bowling Green.
• The Bruins' last goal on the road came in a 1-1 draw at Bellarmine on Sept. 10.
• Belmont is seeking its first road win since Oct. 6 of last year when the Bruins topped Bradley 3-1 in Peoria, Illinois.
• In the season opener, Belmont earned a scoreless draw at Georgia State before suffering road losses at Florida Atlantic (3-1) and South Carolina (2-1) in early September.
• In Valley road action, the Bruins were defeated at Drake (4-0) and receiving-votes Bowling Green (1-0) the last two weekends of September.
• Last Saturday, Belmont nearly equalized the nationally-ranked Bears in the final 10 minutes after conceding a pair of first-half goals within 40 seconds of each other. Missouri State's James Jennings scored only 36 seconds apart in the 28th and 29th minutes before junior defender Dylan Steely headed in his first goal of the season on a corner kick from junior midfielder Brad Dildy 13 minutes into the second half. Graduate forward Case Cox nearly pulled off a remarkable tying goal with a bicycle kick on target in the 81st minute. The Bruins earned four corners in the second half and tallied four shots, two of which were on goal, after only one shot in the first half.
• Steely's goal last Saturday was his fifth career tally and Belmont's first score against the Bears since 2021.
• Dildy's assist on Steely's goal was his first donning the Bruins jersey.
• The loss to Missouri State was just Belmont's fourth setback at E.S. Rose Park in four seasons.
• Last Saturday's outing with the nationally-ranked Bears was the Bruins' 600th match as a program.
• Friday night will be sixth-year head coach David Costa's 100th match leading Belmont.
• The Bruins began MVC play with a 1-1 home draw against then fourth-ranked Western Michigan. It was Belmont's first result against a top-five opponent in program history and the Bruins' ninth all-time result against a top-25 team, seven of which have taken place in the last five seasons.
• Six of Belmont's last nine opponents are ranked in the top 90 of the NCAA RPI (Rating Percentage Index), including No. 11 Missouri State, No. 14 Western Michigan, No. 40 Drake, No. 62 South Carolina, No. 67 Bowling Green and No. 88 Memphis.
• UIC also holds a top-90 RPI, entering the weekend at No. 65.
• Returning to action two weekends ago against Bradley, graduate forward Case Cox made his first start of the season in the 1-0 home win over Covenant College on Oct. 8. Cox scored his 10th career goal against the Scots and owns 29 career points. The experienced striker from Louisville, Kentucky (Saint Xavier HS), was a Missouri Athletic Club (MAC) Hermann Trophy preseason watch list member last year and an all-region first-team selection in 2022.
• Senior captain midfielder AJ Chastonay, who has twice been named Tennessee Sports Writers Association (TSWA) Player of the Week this season and was selected as MVC Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 17, leads the Bruins in both goals (5) and points (12). With 18 career goals in five seasons, Chastonay ranks third in program history. A native of Louisville, Kentucky (Saint Xavier HS), Chastonay surpassed Niccolo Dagnoni (2018-21), Will Moorad (2008-11) and Jeremy Littlejohn (1995-98) on Belmont's all-time goals list on Sept. 10 in the 1-1 draw at Bellarmine.
• Both Chastonay and fellow senior midfielder Eric Stiles are the winningest players in school history. They have helped lead the Bruins to an impressive 38 match wins across five seasons.
• Belmont was undefeated through its first three matches for the second consecutive season.
• The Bruins went 8-7-3 overall last fall, finishing in the top 90 of the NCAA RPI for the fourth-straight season. It also marked Belmont's fourth consecutive winning season.
• In their second year back in the MVC after being an affiliate member of the Valley for the 2000 season, the Bruins tied for fifth place with a 3-4-1 league record.
• Belmont was picked fifth in the 2024 MVC Preseason Poll.
• Steely was tabbed Preseason All-MVC after earning United Soccer Coaches All-West Region Third Team honors last season. The Hoover, Alabama (Hoover HS), native was an All-MVC Second Team pick last year and garnered MVC All-Tournament Team and MVC All-Freshman Team accolades in 2022.
• Head coach David Costa has led the Bruins to 43 match wins and 18 draws, including two conference tournament championship match appearances, over six seasons.
• Belmont challenges itself against some of the nation's best this season, facing eight top-100 programs from a year ago including four NCAA Championship teams.

Versus UIC

• Friday will be the 10th all-time meeting between the Bruins and the Flames with UIC holding a 7-1-1 lead in the series.
• The two teams have met in the first round of each of the last two MVC Championships in Chicago.
• Last November, the third-seeded Flames edged sixth-seeded Belmont 2-1 after the fifth-seeded Bruins defeated fourth-seeded UIC 1-0 in the opening round of the 2022 MVC Championship.
• In last November's postseason meeting, now USL Championship star Jansen Wilson evened the match in the 56th minute before the host Flames struck the game-winner in the 81st minute.
• Forward Ayden von Essen scored the lone goal in the 16th minute in Belmont's 1-0 win at UIC two years ago to propel the Bruins into the MVC Championship semifinals.
• Belmont also played a 3-3 thriller with the Flames on Oct. 1, 2022, at Rose Park. An early brace from Cox put the Bruins up 2-0 before UIC took a 3-2 lead in the 54th minute. Cox then completed his first career hat trick with an equalizing 89th-minute goal.

About the Flames

• The Flames (6-5-0, 2-2-0 MVC) are coming off a 3-1 loss at Evansville last Saturday. UIC also suffered a 3-1 loss to Missouri State at home to begin MVC play on Sept. 21.
• A 4-2 win at Northern Illinois (Sept. 28) and a 2-1 home triumph over Bowling Green (Oct. 5) are the Flames' two Valley wins this season.
• UIC is 4-3 at Flames Field this year, including a 1-0 loss to then 12th-ranked Northwestern on Sept. 2.
• With 21 goals on the season, the Flames are ranked in the top 50 nationally in scoring and are 37th in the nation averaging 6.0 shots on target per match.
• UIC has also conceded 21 goals.
• The Flames were picked third in the MVC Preseason Poll and garnered a pair of first-place votes after finishing third in the Valley last season with a 4-2-2 conference mark and an 11-5-3 overall record.
• Led by 15th-year head coach Sean Phillips, UIC had three on the Preseason All-MVC Team, including 2023 All-MVC First Team selection Jesus De Vicente, all-region performer Bart Muns and 2023 All-MVC Second Team forward Joshua Torres.
• Junior midfielder Rui Reis, an Akron and NAIA Keiser University transfer, leads the Flames in points (12) and is tied with redshirt senior defender De Vicente for the team lead in assists (4).
• Redshirt senior forward Muns leads UIC with five goals, while Reis has recorded four goals.

Up Next
Belmont returns to Nashville next weekend, hosting Northern Illinois next Friday, Oct. 25. Kickoff from Rose Park is slated for 6:30 p.m. All Bruin home matches are broadcast on ESPN+.
 
How to Follow
Follow Belmont men's soccer on social media – @BelmontMSoccer on X, formerly 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.