NASHVILLE, Tenn. – An exciting final 40 minutes of action led to a season-opening victory for the Belmont University men's soccer team Thursday evening at E.S. Rose Park as the Bruins defeated Wright State 2-1. Sophomore midfielder Louis Peña punched in the game-winning score from the spot in the 80th minute after graduate defender
Parker Forbes put Belmont (1-0-0) in front from way outside in the 52nd minute.
Redshirt junior defender
Nate Mefford went one-on-one on a counterattack with 11 minutes to go after receiving the ball on a go-ahead pass from senior midfielder
Oscar Hough. Driving into the 18-yard box, Mefford created a corner kick for the Bruins with the score knotted at 1-1.
Hough took the service from the corner and the Raiders' Zakaria Amro committed a handball in the six-yard box after freshman midfielder
Nzuhri Biggar attempted a header. Belmont elected Peña to take the penalty kick, which gave the Bruins a 2-1 lead they would not surrender.
Not quite seven minutes into the second half, Peña found Forbes on the right flank in the open space. Seeing an opportunity, Peña sent the ball deep into the goal area from well outside the box. His boot struck the side of the far net as he sailed his shot over the head of Wright State's goalkeeper to put Belmont up 1-0.
The Raiders responded, however, in the 71st minute on a counterattack. Wright State's Henry Hutchinson found the back of the net on a delivery from Edwin Espinal-Elvir, evening the score with 19 minutes to work with.
Early in the 89th minute, the Raiders' Sammy Jadid had a clean look inside the box, but graduate goalkeeper
Grant Calvert came up with a sealing save.
The Bruins didn't concede a corner in the first half and Belmont made a trio of second-half saves.
Wright State put five shots on target, but the Bruins outshot the Raiders 8-7. Belmont earned four corners, including three in the first half.
Of Note
- The win is the Bruins' first against Wright State.
- Belmont has won five consecutive home openers going back to the 2021 season.
- Seventh-year head coach David Costa is 4-1-2 in season openers.
- The Bruins have secured a result in 34 of their last 40 matches at Rose Park, outscoring their opponents 58-27 during that stretch.
- Since the start of the 2018 season, Belmont is 30-12-11 at home.
- Forbes' go-ahead goal was the fourth of his career.
Up Next
The Bruins begin a two-match road stretch Sunday when they travel to American Athletic Conference member Memphis. Kickoff from the Billy J. Murphy Soccer Complex in west Tennessee is scheduled for 5 p.m.
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.
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