Men's Soccer Set for 28th Battle of the Boulevard Sunday Night at Lipscomb

 
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Continuing a three-match road stretch and following a dominant victory at Southern Indiana Wednesday evening, the Belmont University men's soccer team makes the short trek down to the opposite end of Belmont Boulevard Sunday night for the 28th Battle of the Boulevard. Kickoff between the Bruins and rival Lipscomb is at 7 p.m. from the Lipscomb Soccer Complex in Nashville.
 
The Music City rivalry match will be broadcast on ESPN+ and live stats of Sunday's contest can be followed by visiting BelmontBruins.com.
 
What's Bruin

• One of just 28 unbeaten teams in the nation, Belmont (4-0-3) earned its third road shutout of the season Wednesday with a 3-0 rout of the Screaming Eagles in Evansville, Indiana.
• The road win at Southern Indiana snapped the Bruins' three-match streak of 1-1 draws.
• It marks the second time in program history Belmont has gone unbeaten through its first seven matches of the season. The Bruins started the unique 2020 season, which was played in the spring of 2021 due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, 5-0-2.
• Belmont is riding a program-best nine-match unbeaten streak, which dates back to Oct. 25 of last year.
• The Bruins have outscored their opponents 11-4 through their first seven matches of the season and have not conceded more than a goal in any outing.
• Eight different players have found the back of the net for Belmont this year – redshirt junior forward Brock Kiper (3), freshman forward Jaxon Stokes (2), sophomore midfielder Emmanuel Aranda (1), senior defender Riley Clothier (1), graduate defender Parker Forbes (1), freshman midfielder Paul Claes Nielsen (1), sophomore midfielder Louis Peña (1), and redshirt sophomore forward Lucas Wolthers (1).
• Both Claes Nielsen (30') and Aranda (60') scored their first collegiate goal in the Bruins' triumph over the Eagles, while Stokes (64') knocked in his second career goal. Forbes and Clothier on Claes Nielsen's finish and Kiper on Stokes' finish all earned their first assist of the season.
• Belmont racked up a season-high 18 shots at Southern Indiana, including placing a season-best eight on target. It was the most shots in a match for the Bruins since Oct. 22, 2023, at Northern Illinois.
• Redshirt freshman goalkeeper Miles Kipley and redshirt freshman defender Zach Stanton made their collegiate debuts against the Eagles Wednesday, while redshirt sophomore defender Dru Stanton made his season debut.
• Graduate goalkeeper Grant Calvert has tallied 17 saves over the last four matches with at least five saves in each of Belmont's draws.
• Kiper leads the Bruins in both career goals (11) and points (25).
• Belmont is 3-0-1 on the road this season, it's lone road tie taking place at Northern Kentucky two weekends ago.
• Going back to last season, the Bruins have claimed a result in 10 of their last 11 matches.

Battle of the Boulevard History

• Sunday night will be the 28th edition of the Battle of the Boulevard on the soccer pitch.
• The Bisons own a slight 12-11-4 edge in the all-time series, which dates back to Sept. 20, 1994.
• Belmont is 3-7-2 at Lipscomb with its last road victory against the Bisons coming on Oct. 2, 2004, a 3-0 shutout.
• The Bruins last earned a result at Lipscomb in September of 2021 when they secured a 1-1 draw.
• Last season, Belmont shut out the Bisons 2-0 at E.S. Rose Park behind goals from redshirt senior defender Dylan Steely (45') and senior captain midfielder Rubyn Singh Gill (51').
• In October of 2023, Lipscomb topped the Bruins 4-2 at the Lipscomb Soccer Complex. It is the Bisons' lone win in the rivalry since 2018.
• Seventh-year head coach David Costa is 2-1-2 against Lipscomb.

About the Bisons

• The Bisons are off to a 1-4-2 start and most recently dropped a 3-0 home decision to top-20 ranked Gardner-Webb Tuesday night in Nashville.
• Lipscomb's last result came on Sept. 8 at Georgia State, a 1-1 road draw, and the Bisons' only win on the season took place on Aug. 31 versus Mercer (2-0).
• Lipscomb is 1-2-1 at home this year with a season-opening 1-1 draw against Memphis.
• Just one season after winning their third-straight Atlantic Sun Conference Championship title and third consecutive ASUN regular season crown in 2023, the Bisons went 3-8-5 last year.
• Lipscomb was picked fifth out of eight teams in the ASUN Preseason Coaches Poll but did receive a first-place vote after finishing last in the conference last season with a 1-4-2 league record.
• The Bisons have been outscored 14-5 thus far this season.
• Redshirt junior midfielder Levi Jones (2) and freshman midfielder Diego Ramirez (2) have combined for four of Lipscomb's five goals this year.

Up Next
Belmont begins Missouri Valley Conference action next weekend when the Bruins make the journey to Kalamazoo, Michigan, to take on Western Michigan next Friday. Kickoff from the WMU Soccer Complex is slated for 3:30 p.m. CT/4:30 p.m. ET and the Valley opener will be 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.