Men’s Soccer Travels to East Tennessee Saturday

 
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – Following a third consecutive victory in the Battle of the Boulevard against nearby rival Lipscomb, the Belmont University men's soccer team hits the road for a Saturday evening matchup at East Tennessee State University. Kickoff in east Tennessee at Summers-Taylor Stadium in Johnson City is slated for 5 p.m. CT/6 p.m. ET.
 
The non-conference road match will be broadcast on ESPN+ and live stats of the contest can be followed by visiting BelmontBruins.com.
 
What's Bruin

• The Bruins (2-2-1) defeated the rival Bisons 2-0 for the third-straight year in the 29th Battle of the Boulevard Tuesday night at E.S. Rose Park in Music City.
• With Tuesday's win, Belmont took a 13-12-4 in the all-time series with Lipscomb and eighth-year head coach David Costa improved to 4-1-2 in Battle of the Boulevard matches.
• Earning their first shutout of the season, the Bruins claimed their sixth result in the last seven meetings with the Bisons.
• Belmont got left-footed strikes from senior forward Lucas Wolthers (5') and sophomore midfielder Nzuhri Biggar (79') against Lipscomb and put together an impressive defensive performance. Playing down a man for the final 20 minutes of the match due to a pair of yellow cards on senior forward Nathan Ferguson, the Bruins conceded nothing.
• Freshman goalkeeper Brody Sucher was sensational in the Battle of the Boulevard, coming up with a career-high seven saves as Belmont fended off 17 total shots and eight corner kicks.
• With a 1-1 home draw versus Mercer last Friday night, the Bruins have gone unbeaten in back-to-back matches for the first time this season.
• Graduate midfielder John McDowell provided the equalizer against the Bears of Mercer on an 88th-minute penalty kick after freshman forward Aiden Pierpoint was fouled inside the box. For his performance, which included placing three of six shots on target, McDowell was named Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week Tuesday afternoon.
• McDowell and sophomore midfielder Paul Claes Nielsen, who recorded his first brace in the first half of Belmont's dominant 6-1 win at Wright State, lead the Bruins with two goals apiece.
• Through five matches, seven different Belmont players have scored a goal.
• The Bruins have constructed two commanding offensive performances already this season. In last Friday's match versus Mercer, Belmont tallied 25 shots, including a season-high nine on target, and earned 15 corner kicks. In the Bruins' first road match of the season on Aug. 23 at Wright State, five different Belmont players found the back of the net.
• The Bruins' 25 shots in last Friday's draw with the Bears were Belmont's most in a contest since registering 27 in a 2-0 home win over Eastern Illinois on Oct. 26, 2022. The nine shots on goal were the Bruins' most in an outing since the 2023 season.
• Belmont's 15 corners versus Mercer were the most in a match for the Bruins since at least 2010.
• Leading 4-1 at the half against the Raiders of Wright State, Belmont's four first-half goals were the most in a half by the Bruins since a 4-0 win at Southern Indiana on Sept. 12, 2023.
• Belmont's six-goal production on the road came after the Raiders took a 1-0 lead only 62 seconds into the match. The result at Wright State was the most goals the Bruins scored in a match since an identical 6-1 home win over Niagara University on Aug. 27, 2017.
• In fact, Belmont had notched six goals against a NCAA Division I opponent only two other times prior to its win over the Raiders – versus Niagara and at Lipscomb on Sept. 18, 2001 (6-0).
• The Bruins welcomed 10 newcomers this year, including eight over the summer and two in January – 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), Biggar (10), graduate captain 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).

Versus ETSU

• Saturday will be the 11th all-time meeting between the Bruins and ETSU with Belmont holding a 5-4-1 lead in the series.
• The Bruins last faced the Buccaneers in the quarterfinals of the 2021 Southern Conference Championship, hosted by UNC Greensboro in North Carolina. Belmont advanced with a 1-0 win as midfielder AJ Chastonay scored 18 minutes in.
• The Bruins have shut out ETSU each of the last four meetings, going 3-0-1.
• In its last trip to Johnson City, Tennessee, in late March of 2021, Belmont played the Buccaneers to a scoreless draw following two overtime periods.
• The Bruins also defeated ETSU, 2-0, in the quarterfinals of the 2019 SoCon Championship in Greensboro, North Carolina.
• The Buccaneers' last win in the series was on Oct. 29, 2019, a single-goal double-overtime affair at Rose Park in which ETSU scored in the 107th minute.
• The two teams were conference foes in the Atlantic Sun Conference from 2008-11 and SoCon from 2018-21.

About the Buccaneers

• The Buccaneers (2-3-0) picked up a strong, 3-1 win at Atlantic Coast Conference member Virginia Tech Wednesday evening after three consecutive losses.
• ETSU also owns a 1-0 road win over Queens University of Charlotte on opening day.
• The Buccaneers have lost both of their home matches this season, falling 4-3 to Longwood last Saturday and dropping a 3-0 decision to USC Upstate on Sept. 1.
• Sophomore midfielder Elliot Edwards has scored a team-best twice for ETSU, including notching a goal in each of the Buccaneers' last two matches. The NCAA Division II Tusculum University transfer also leads the team in assists (3).
• ETSU also features senior midfielder Jaime Carrillo, an All-SoCon Second Team selection last fall who has scored a goal and assisted on another already this season.
• The Buccaneers were picked sixth out of seven teams in the SoCon Preseason Poll as voted upon by the league's head coaches.
• Last year, ETSU went 2-9-4 and finished fourth in the SoCon with a 2-3-0 conference record.

Up Next
Belmont will have nearly a week off from match play before hosting Southern Indiana next Friday, Sept. 18. Kickoff from Rose Park in Nashville is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. and the non-conference home match will be broadcast on ESPN+. Admission to all soccer matches at Rose Park is free.
 
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.