Men’s Soccer Hosts Western Michigan for Senior Night Friday

 
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Senior night awaits the Belmont University men's soccer team Friday as the Bruins welcome Western Michigan to E.S. Rose Park. Kickoff from Music City is set for 6:30 p.m. with Belmont honoring five seniors prior to the Missouri Valley Conference matchup.
 
The Bruins' final home match of the regular season will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Carter Gledhill on the call. Live stats of the contest can also be followed by visiting BelmontBruins.com.
 
Thank You, Seniors
Defenders AJ Elliott, Nate Mefford and Dru Stanton, goalkeeper Jack Roach, and forward Lucas Wolthers will all be recognized on the field before Friday night's match for their commitment to the Belmont men's soccer program.

• A native of Franklin, Tennessee (Franklin HS), Elliott has played in 44 matches over the last four seasons, scoring a goal and assisting on another three.
• A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, Mefford has played in 39 matches and made nine starts for the Bruins over the last three seasons. With 18 career points, all at Belmont, Mefford leads all current Bruins with seven career goals.
• A native of Peachtree City, Georgia (McIntosh HS), Stanton has played in 12 matches over the last three seasons and assisted on a goal in the September win over Southern Indiana.
• A native of Plymouth, Minnesota (Wayzata HS), Roach has spent the last two seasons at Belmont and saw six minutes in front of goal in the September shutout of the University of St. Thomas.
• A native of Hendersonville, Tennessee (Merrol Hyde Magnet School), Wolthers has played in 31 matches and made 19 starts over the last two years, scoring a trio of goals in consecutive seasons.
• Elliott, Mefford and Stanton have been dedicated to the Bruins since the summer of 2023 as four-year members of the program.
• Wolthers joined Belmont in January of 2025, while Roach arrived in Nashville in the summer of 2025.

 
What's Bruin

• With only two regular season matches remaining, the Bruins (6-5-3, 2-1-1 MVC) are in the hunt for a MVC title with Bowling Green (4-1-0 MVC) and Evansville (3-1-0 MVC) sitting above Belmont in the standings.
• Already securing a spot in the six-team MVC Championship, the Bruins can clinch a top-four seed and hosting responsibilities with a win Friday.
• Belmont had its season-best five-match unbeaten streak snapped last Sunday afternoon in Bowling Green, Ohio, as the host Falcons capitalized on two early Bruin miscues for a 2-0 win.
• Both of Bowling Green's goals came in the initial 10 minutes of the match.
• Controlling the majority of the road match, Belmont totaled a season-high 31 shots and placed 10 on target. It marked the third time this season the Bruins have registered over 20 shots in a match. Belmont has also recorded 10 shots on goal in three different contests this fall. The Bruins outshot the Falcons 21-3 in the second half.
• Belmont has earned a result in eight of its last 11 matches, going 5-3-3.
• In their last home affair on Saturday, Oct. 17, the Bruins earned a 2-2 draw versus the University of Illinois Chicago.
• Belmont enters Friday on a six-match home unbeaten streak.
• The Bruins went undefeated through their first three MVC matches for the first time since 2022, Belmont's first season back in the Valley.
• In each of their first three league matches, the Bruins scored two goals.
• Graduate midfielder John McDowell has scored four penalty kick goals, including a PK in each of Belmont's first three MVC matches, and leads the Bruins with five total goals on the season.
• Wolthers and sophomore forward Jaxon Stokes have scored six career goals each, which are the second most among current Belmont players.
• In their first two MVC matches, the Bruins won by an identical 2-1 score courtesy of a McDowell PK and an 88th-minute game winner. Sophomore midfielder Paul Claes Nielsen scored the game winner in Belmont's MVC-opening win at Drake (Oct. 3) and Stokes smashed in a remarkable, deep game-winning goal in the Bruins' home victory over Bradley (Oct. 11).
• Belmont captured an MVC Player of the Week award in back-to-back weeks to begin the month of October. Claes Nielsen was selected as MVC Player of the Week on Oct. 6 following his game winner over the Bulldogs in Des Moines, Iowa, and Mefford was chosen as MVC Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 13 after assisting on Stokes' game-winning goal against the Braves.
• Both Claes Nielsen and Mefford have found the back of the net four times this season for the second-most goals on the team.
• With a crucial assist on Claes Nielsen's game winner at Drake, graduate midfielder Elijah John earned his 20th career point, which is the most of any Bruin.
• Freshman goalkeeper Brody Sucher, who owns two clean sheets, has registered a career-high seven saves three times. He has made at least five saves in seven of his last 10 outings.
• Eleven different Belmont players have scored this season, accounting for 25 total goals.
• The Bruins have scored at least three goals on four occasions this season, including an impressive 6-1 win at Wright State in Belmont's opening road match.
• The Bruins welcomed 10 newcomers this year, including eight over the summer and two in January — senior forward Nathan Ferguson and freshman defender Judah McCloud.
• Belmont's 2026 class is comprised of six freshmen and four transfers.
• The Bruins returned 16 from 2025, including 12 letter winners.
• Only four returning Belmont players started matches last season — Claes Nielsen (16), sophomore midfielder Nzuhri Biggar (10), graduate midfielder Ethan Schlegel (9), and Wolthers (6).
• After finishing just one point shy of claiming their first MVC regular season championship last year, the Bruins were picked fifth in the league's preseason poll as voted by the Valley's head coaches.
• Belmont went 3-2-2 in MVC play in 2025 and finished 8-3-6 overall.
• The Bruins have reached eight victories in three of the last five seasons.
• Belmont went undefeated through its first 11 matches last season (6-0-5) for the first time in school history.
• The Bruins put together a program-record 13-match unbeaten streak from Oct. 29, 2024, through Oct. 7, 2025.
• Claes Nielsen, an MVC All-Freshman Team selection last fall, was named to the Preseason All-MVC Team. The Copenhagen, Denmark, native started all but one match his freshman season and led Belmont in assists (5).

Bruins at Home

• The Bruins have earned a result in 44 of their last 54 matches at Rose Park, outscoring their opponents 81-42 during that stretch.
• Since the start of the 2018 season, Belmont is 36-16-15 at home.
• The Bruins have finished .500 or better at home for eight-straight seasons.

Versus Western Michigan

• Friday night will be just the fourth all-time meeting between Belmont and the Broncos.
• The Bruins have earned 1-1 draws against Western Michigan each of the last two years.
• Last September in Kalamazoo, Michigan, Belmont took a 1-0 lead on a sixth-minute PK before the host Broncos equalized at the 24th minute.
• Western Michigan was ranked fourth in the nation in its last visit to Rose Park in September of 2024. Mefford put the Bruins up a goal with a 43rd-minute PK before the Broncos equalized in the 65th minute.
• Belmont's home result against Western Michigan in 2024 was the Bruins' first against a top-five opponent in program history. The draw was Belmont's ninth result all-time against a top-25 opponent and seventh since the 2020 season, which was played in the spring of 2021 due to the COVID-19 global pandemic.
• The Broncos' 2024 trip to Nashville was their only other visit to Rose Park.

About the Broncos

• Western Michigan (4-8-4, 1-1-2 MVC) returns to MVC action after a two-week break from conference play. In fact, the Broncos are returning from a 10-day break from match action.
• On Oct. 17, Western Michigan played Drake to a scoreless draw in Iowa before falling 5-1 at DePaul on Oct. 20.
• The Broncos' lone win in MVC play came in their Valley opener on Sept. 25 at Bowling Green, a 1-0 triumph.
• Western Michigan also earned a 1-1 home draw versus UIC (Oct. 3) and was defeated 1-0 by Evansville at home on Oct. 11.
• The Broncos are the defending MVC tournament champions after winning last year's bracket as the No. 6 seed. After going 2-2-3 in MVC play, Western Michigan defeated the top-seeded Purple Aces in a single-goal match to advance to the 2025 NCAA Championship, where the Broncos ousted Clemson in the opening round.
• Western Michigan has made the NCAA Championship each year since 2022, including reaching the round of 16 in both 2023 and 2022.
• In their first year in the Valley in 2023, the Broncos won both the regular season and the MVC Championship.
• Western Michigan was picked to win the MVC this year, garnering five first-place votes in the conference's preseason predicted order of finish.
• The Broncos feature junior forward Vitor Geromel, a Clemson transfer, who leads the MVC and is tied for 11th nationally with 10 goals this season.
• Western Michigan has also gotten four goals and three assists from fellow junior forward Sahel Yessen.

Up Next
The Bruins wrap up the regular season next Wednesday at Evansville. Kickoff from Arad McCutchan Stadium in Evansville, Indiana, is slated for 6 p.m. and the MVC road match will be broadcast on ESPN+. The 2026 MVC Championship will begin with first-round matches on either Saturday, Nov. 7 or Sunday, Nov. 8. The MVC Championship semifinals will take place on Wednesday, Nov. 11 with the title match set for Saturday, Nov. 14 or Sunday, Nov. 15.
 
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.