Men's Soccer Visits Memphis Sunday

 
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Following its exciting 2-1 season-opening victory over Wright State Thursday evening at E.S. Rose Park, the Belmont University men's soccer team travels to west Tennessee Sunday for a late-afternoon matchup with Memphis. Kickoff from the Billy J. Murphy Soccer Complex in Memphis is slated for 5 p.m.
 
The road match will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Jeff Brightwell on the call. Live stats of the contest can be followed by visiting BelmontBruins.com.
 
What's Bruin

• The Bruins (1-0-0) won their fifth consecutive home opener on opening night, and seventh-year head coach David Costa improved to 4-1-2 in season openers with Thursday evening's triumph.
• Belmont's win over the Raiders was the Bruins' first against Wright State. The Raiders had gone 4-0-1 versus Belmont previously, including 3-0-1 while the Bruins were members of the Horizon League (2014-17).
• Graduate defender Parker Forbes scored his fourth career goal from well outside the top right of the box in the 52nd-minute, giving Belmont a 1-0 lead.
• After Wright State equalized in the 71st minute on a counterattack, redshirt junior defender Nate Mefford created a chance for the Bruins on a counterattack of his own with 11 minutes to go. Mefford's push earned Belmont a corner and freshman midfielder Nzuhri Biggar fought for a header inside the 18, leading to a Raider handball in the six-yard box.
• Sophomore midfielder Louis Peña took the game-winning penalty kick in the 80th minute.
• Peña also assisted on Forbes' go-ahead goal, giving him three points in his first-ever collegiate match.
• The Bruins have earned a result in four of their last five matches going back to last season.
• Belmont has gone unbeaten for three-straight matches dating back to Oct. 25 of last year.
• The Bruins ended their 2024 season with a 2-2 road draw at eventual Missouri Valley Conference Tournament champion Evansville.

Versus Memphis

• Sunday will be the 21st all-time meeting between Belmont and the Tigers of Memphis.
• The Tigers own an 18-1-1 lead in the series and have won each of the last four matchups, including a single-goal affair in Nashville to begin last October.
• The Bruins' last result against Memphis came on opening night in 2017, a scoreless draw at Rose Park.
• Belmont's lone win over the Tigers was on Sept. 21, 1997, in Nashville, a 2-1 victory.
• The Bruins are 0-10-0 against Memphis on the road.
• In Belmont's last visit to west Tennessee on Sept. 8, 2023, the Tigers escaped 2-1 behind an own goal in the 21st minute and a game winner in the 25th minute. Graduate midfielder Jansen Wilson, now one of the top goal scorers in the USL Championship for Louisville City FC, put the Bruins up 1-0 in the 20th minute. All three goals were scored in the opening 25 minutes.
• The two programs met for exhibition contests in 2021 and 2022, both matches ending in ties through regulation time.

About the Tigers

• Memphis opened its season with a 1-1 draw on the opposite end of Belmont Boulevard at Lipscomb Thursday night.
• Defender Fletcher Hedge put the Tigers up 1-0 in the 47th minute with a header off a corner. In the 77th minute, the host Bisons evened the score.
• Memphis placed seven of its 10 shots on target in its season opener, while conceding 13 total shots.
• The Tigers were picked third in the American Athletic Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll alongside South Florida but received two first-place votes. Memphis was selected ahead of longtime MVC power Missouri State, who was chosen fifth with a single first-place nod.
• Senior Filip Sabatti was tabbed The American Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year, while sixth-year forward Luciano Galizzi, sophomore defender Ryan Ruguaru and Sabatti were named Preseason All-AAC. Sabatti was last year's AAC Goalkeeper of the Year and Galizzi was tabbed All-AAC Second Team. Ruguaru was an AAC All-Freshman Team performer last season.
• The Tigers won The American regular season title last fall after going 4-1-2 in conference play. Memphis went 7-7-3 overall in 2024 after reaching the NCAA Championship in both 2023 and 2022.
• Head coach Richard Mulrooney is in his 12th season leading the Tigers.

Up Next
Belmont makes its first road trip of the season next weekend with the Bruins heading to Cambridge, Massachusetts, to take on Harvard. Kickoff from Jordan Field in New England is scheduled for 5 p.m. CT/6 p.m. ET.
 
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.