Men’s Soccer Travels to Top-15 Ranked Louisville Monday

 
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Following a dominant 4-1 victory Friday night at E.S. Rose Park, the Belmont University men's soccer team travels to 15th-ranked and unbeaten Louisville Monday. Kickoff is slated for 5 p.m. CT/6 p.m. ET from Dr. Mark & Cindy Lynn Stadium in Louisville, Kentucky.
 
The road match will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra with Noah Frary (play-by-play) and Casey Whitfield (analyst) on the call. Live stats of the contest can also be followed by visiting BelmontBruins.com.
 
What's Bruin

• The Bruins (3-3-1) defeated Southern Indiana 4-1 Friday night in Music City for their second-straight home victory.
• Belmont scored four unanswered goals in Friday's win – fifth-year defender Nate Mefford (35'), freshman forward Aiden Pierpoint (37'), graduate captain midfielder Ethan Schlegel (73') and sophomore forward Jaxon Stokes (78'). Schlegel's strike from the top of the penalty arc was his first career goal.
• The Bruins have earned a result in three of their last four matches.
• Ten different Belmont players have found the back of the net this season and the Bruins have scored 16 goals in seven matches.
• Belmont's 2.29 goals per match are tied for 24th-most nationally.
• Mefford, who is the Bruins' active career leader in goals (6), and sophomore midfielder Paul Claes Nielsen have punched in a team-high three goals each.
• Graduate midfielder John McDowell and Pierpoint have both found the space between the pipes twice this year.
• On Tuesday, Sept. 8, McDowell was named Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week after providing the equalizer on an 88th-minute penalty kick in a 1-1 home draw with Mercer. The Chapel Hill, North Carolina (C.E. Jordan HS), native has also assisted on a team-best three goals this season.
• Belmont has constructed multiple commanding offensive performances this season. In Friday night's triumph, the Bruins tallied a season-high 10 shots on target. It was the most shots on goal since Belmont also totaled 10 in a 4-0 win at Southern Indiana on Sept. 12, 2023.
• Versus Mercer on Sept. 4, the Bruins racked up 25 shots and earned 15 corner kicks. In Belmont's first road match of the season on Aug. 23 at Wright State, five different Bruins found the back of the net in a 6-1 rout.
• Belmont's 25 shots in its draw with the Bears were the Bruins' most in a contest since registering 27 in a 2-0 home win over Eastern Illinois on Oct. 26, 2022.
• 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 their 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 had 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 – 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), Schlegel (9), and senior forward Lucas 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).

Against Nationally-Ranked Opponents

• The Bruins are facing a nationally-ranked opponent for the first time since hosting then 17th-ranked Missouri State on Oct. 12, 2024.
• Belmont has earned nine all-time results against top-25 teams, seven of which have taken place since the 2020 season, which was played in the spring of 2021 due to the COVID-19 global pandemic.
• The Bruins' last result against a nationally-ranked opponent came on Sept. 15, 2024, when Belmont earned a 1-1 draw with fourth-ranked Western Michigan at Rose Park. It was the Bruins' first result against a top-five opponent in program history.
• Belmont's last win against a top-25 opponent was in the 2021 Southern Conference Championship semifinals when the Bruins knocked out No. 25 UNC Greensboro 2-1 on the road.
• Belmont owns five wins over nationally-ranked opponents in program history – at No. 25 UNC Greensboro (2-1) on Nov. 7, 2021; versus No. 16 UNC Greensboro (2-1) on Oct. 16, 2021; at No. 25 Furman (3-1) on April 9, 2021; versus No. 22 ETSU (3-1) on Sept. 29, 2011; at No. 16 Furman (2-1, OT) on Nov. 2, 2007.
• The Bruins have also tied a nationally-ranked opponent four times in program history – versus No. 4 Western Michigan (1-1) on Sept. 15, 2024; versus No. 18 Missouri State (0-0) on Oct. 23, 2022; versus No. 17 Lipscomb (0-0) on Sept. 6, 2022; at No. 22 Lipscomb (1-1) on Sept. 14, 2021.

Versus Louisville

• Monday will be the 10th all-time regular season meeting between Belmont and the Cardinals.
• On Oct. 7 last year, the Bruins earned a scoreless draw in Louisville to extend their program-record unbeaten streak to 13.
• It marks the third-straight year Belmont visits Dr. Mark & Cindy Lynn Stadium as the Bruins took on the then 24th-ranked Cardinals in an opening exhibition to begin the 2024 season.

About the Cardinals

• Louisville (6-0-2) began Atlantic Coast Conference play last Sunday afternoon with a 3-2 home victory over California. On Friday evening, the Cardinals earned a 3-3 draw against Boston College in Louisville.
• On Aug. 31, Louisville secured a 1-1 home draw versus now second-ranked Indiana.
• The Cardinals have played two common opponents at home – defeating Lipscomb 3-1 on Aug. 27 and Wright State 3-0 on Sept. 3.
• Louisville also topped fellow MVC member Evansville 1-0 on the road on Sept. 8.
• The Cardinals were picked 14th out of 15 teams in the ACC Preseason Coaches Poll after going 1-5-2 in conference play and 5-7-5 overall last season.
• Junior midfielder Giacomo Zizza, a Lehigh transfer, leads Louisville with five goals and a pair of assists this season.
• Sophomore forward Andrés Escudero Martín, last year's MVC Freshman of the Year while at Evansville, is second on the team with four goals.
• Junior midfielder Braydon Sellars, a Saint Louis transfer, owns a trio of goals and two assists for the Cardinals.
• Freshman forward Emil Thor has also scored multiple goals for Louisville this year.
• Senior defender Ryan Quintos was selected to the ACC Preseason Watch List.

Up Next
Belmont is back in action at Rose Park Friday night as the Bruins host the University of St. Thomas. Kickoff from Nashville is set for 6:30 p.m. The non-conference home match will be broadcast on ESPN+. All matches at Rose Park are free to attend. Belmont begins MVC play at Drake on Saturday, Oct. 3.
 
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.