Men’s Soccer Visits Bradley for Final Regular Season Road Match Friday Evening

 
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Wrapping up its regular season road slate, the Belmont University men's soccer team travels to Bradley University for a Halloween night matchup in Peoria, Illinois. Kickoff from Shea Stadium is set for 6 p.m.
 
The Missouri Valley Conference road match will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Michael Goff (play-by-play), Jake Aimore (analyst) and Caden Sexton (sideline) on the call. Live stats of Friday evening's contest can be followed by visiting BelmontBruins.com.
 
What's Bruin

• The Bruins (6-2-6, 1-2-2 MVC) are seeking their first win since a 4-1 home throttling of Bowling Green to begin October.
• Belmont has gone 0-2-2 over its last four matches with a pair of road draws at Northern Illinois (2-2) two Fridays ago and a scoreless tie at Atlantic Coast Conference member Louisville in its final non-conference tilt of the regular season on Oct. 7.
• The Bruins have dropped only two matches over the last 371 days.
• Belmont has conceded multiple goals in only two matches this season – a 2-1 home loss to the University of Illinois Chicago on Oct. 12 and its 2-2 road draw with the Huskies on Oct. 17.
• Prior to their loss to UIC, the Bruins held a program-record 13-match unbeaten streak, which dated back to Oct. 25 of last year. It was the third-longest unbeaten streak in the nation at the time.
• Belmont went unbeaten through its first 11 matches of the season for the first time in school history.
• The Bruins have outscored their opponents 21-11 this season.
• Belmont is unbeaten on the road this season with a 4-0-4 record away from home.
• The Bruins own five road shutouts on the year – at Memphis (2-0), at Harvard (1-0), at Southern Indiana (3-0), at Lipscomb (2-0) and at Louisville (0-0).
• On senior night last Friday at E.S. Rose Park, Belmont was edged by Drake in a single-goal affair. The Bulldogs, the preseason favorites to win the MVC, found the back of the net in the 24th minute on a breakaway goal.
• Graduate goalkeeper Grant Calvert, who claimed another four saves versus Drake last Friday night, has made at least four saves in each of his last four matches.
• With four clean sheets this fall, Calvert ranks in the top 35 nationally in both save percentage (.807) and goals against average (.794).
• Eleven different Bruins have found the back of the net this season – redshirt junior forward Brock Kiper (4), freshman forward Jaxon Stokes (4), freshman midfielder Nzuhri Biggar (2), senior captain midfielder Brad Dildy (2), redshirt sophomore forward Lucas Wolthers (2), sophomore midfielder Emmanuel Aranda (1), senior defender Riley Clothier (1), graduate defender Parker Forbes (1), redshirt senior forward Jimiyu Mark (1), freshman midfielder Paul Claes Nielsen (1), and sophomore midfielder Louis Peña (1).
• In the latest NCAA RPI (Rating Percentage Index) rankings, Belmont sits just inside the top 100 at No. 98.
• The Braves are ranked the lowest of any MVC team in the most recent RPI, checking in at No. 195.
• The Bruins have secured results against four teams ranked in the top 80 of the NCAA RPI – No. 63 Louisville (0-0), No. 72 Northern Illinois (2-2), No. 77 Bellarmine (1-1) and No. 80 Harvard (1-0).
• Going back to last season, Belmont has claimed a result in 15 of its last 18 matches.

Versus Bradley

• Friday will be the 10th all-time meeting between the Bruins and Bradley with the Braves holding a 5-3-1 lead in the series.
• Belmont has gone 2-1-0 versus Bradley since re-joining the Valley prior to the 2022 season.
• The Bruins have earned a result in three of their last four matchups with the Braves dating back to 2019.
• Belmont is 1-3-1 against Bradley in Peoria, Illinois, including a 3-1 victory over the Braves in the Bruins' last road trip in the series on Oct. 6, 2023. Now a star forward for Louisville City FC in the USL Championship, Jansen Wilson registered a brace in Belmont's road win at Bradley.
• Last season in Nashville, the Braves got past the Bruins in a 1-0 contest on Oct. 5, 2024. Bradley scored the lone goal in the 57th minute.
• Redshirt senior captain defender Dylan Steely recorded his first career goal against the Braves with a 10th-minute header to put Belmont up 1-0 on Sept. 17, 2022, at Rose Park. The Bruins went on to win the match 2-1.

About the Braves

• Bradley (2-7-6, 0-3-2 MVC), although winless in MVC play, has earned 1-1 draws with the Flames of UIC at home (Sept. 27) and most recently the University of Evansville on the road last Friday evening.
• The Braves haven't won a match since Sept. 19 when they defeated NCAA Division III Millikin University 4-0 at home.
• Bradley's only other win on the season was a 1-0 home shutout against Milwaukee on Aug. 28.
• The Braves are 2-1-3 at Shea Stadium this fall.
• Last season, Bradley tied with Belmont for seventh in the MVC, going 4-8-4 overall and 1-5-2 in league play.
• The Braves' senior goalkeeper Drew Berry leads in the nation in saves (79) and his 5.27 saves per match are the ninth-most in the country.
• Second-year head coach Tim Regan played against the Bruins as a starting defender for Bradley in 2000, Belmont's lone season as an affiliate member of the Valley.

Up Next
The Bruins close out the regular season in the Music City next Wednesday when they host defending MVC Championship winner Evansville. Kickoff from Rose Park is scheduled for 6 p.m. All Belmont home matches are free to attend and 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.