29th Battle of the Boulevard Awaits Men’s Soccer Tuesday Night at Rose Park

 
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The 29th Battle of the Boulevard between the Belmont University men's soccer team and nearby rival Lipscomb University is set for Tuesday night at E.S. Rose Park in Nashville. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
 
The rivalry match will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Belmont Associate Athletic Director for Broadcasting and Media Relations Greg Sage calling the on-field action. Live stats of the contest can also be followed by visiting BelmontBruins.com.
 
The home match is a white out with fans highly encouraged to wear white. Belmont soccer white t-shirts will be given away to all fans in attendance beginning one hour prior to kickoff, while supplies last.
 
Admission is always free to Belmont soccer matches at Rose Park.
 
What's Bruin

• The Bruins (1-2-1) earned a 1-1 draw against Mercer Friday night in Music City. Graduate midfielder John McDowell provided the equalizer on a PK in the 88th minute after freshman forward Aiden Pierpoint was fouled inside the box.
• Belmont has put together two impressive offensive performances already this season. In Friday's match, the Bruins recorded 25 shots, including a season-high nine on target, and earned 15 corner kicks. In its first road match of the season on Aug. 23, Belmont routed Wright State 6-1 as five different Bruins found the back of the net.
• Belmont's 25 shots in Friday's 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. The nine shots on goal were Belmont's most in an outing since the 2023 season.
• The Bruins' 15 corners versus Mercer were the most in a match for Belmont since at least 2010.
• Leading 4-1 at the half at Wright State, the Bruins' four first-half goals were the most in a half by Belmont since a 4-0 win at Southern Indiana on Sept. 12, 2023.
• The Bruins' six-goal production on the road against the Raiders came after Wright State took a 1-0 lead only 62 seconds into the match. The result over the Raiders was the most goals Belmont scored in a match since an identical 6-1 home win over Niagara University on Aug. 27, 2017.
• In fact, the Bruins had notched six goals against a NCAA Division I opponent only two other times prior to their win at Wright State – versus Niagara and at Lipscomb on Sept. 18, 2001 (6-0).
• McDowell and sophomore midfielder Paul Claes Nielsen, who recorded his first brace in the first half of the dominant win at Wright State, lead Belmont with two goals apiece.
• 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) and fellow sophomore midfielder Nzuhri Biggar (10), captain graduate midfielder Ethan Schlegel (9), and senior forward Lucas Wolthers (6).
• After finishing just one point shy of claiming their first Missouri Valley Conference 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 39 of their last 49 matches at Rose Park, outscoring their opponents 68-38 during that stretch.
• Since the start of the 2018 season, Belmont is 32-16-14 at home.
• The Bruins have finished .500 or better at home for eight-straight seasons.

Battle of the Boulevard History

• Tuesday night will be the 29th all-time meeting between Belmont and the Bisons on the pitch.
• The rivalry series is even with both teams winning 12 matches and four matches resulting in draws.
• The Battle of the Boulevard in men's soccer dates back to Sept. 20, 1994.
• The Bruins have won each of the last two matchups with Lipscomb in 2-0 fashion.
• Last year's Battle of the Boulevard on Sept. 22, 2025, at the opposite end of Belmont Boulevard was interrupted late in the first half by an over one-and-a-half-hour weather delay due to lightning. Sophomore forward Jaxon Stokes provided the second goal of the match in the 58th minute. Belmont scored on two of its four shots on goal and the Bruins limited the Bisons to only one shot on target.
• Belmont is 8-4-2 versus Lipscomb at home and 3-1-1 against the Bisons at Rose Park.
• The Bruins have not lost to Lipscomb at Rose Park since a single-goal affair on Sept. 27, 2012.
• On Sept. 6, 2022, Belmont shut out the then 17th-ranked Bisons in a scoreless draw at Rose Park to extend the Bruins' home unbeaten streak to 13. The match drew over 1,400 fans in one of the highest-attended soccer matches in school history.
• Eighth-year head coach David Costa is 3-1-2 versus Lipscomb.

About the Bisons

• The Bisons (1-2-1) began Atlantic Sun Conference play Saturday night and earned a 3-1 win over Queens University of Charlotte at the Lipscomb Soccer Complex. Lipscomb scored a trio of second-half goals for its first victory of the season.
• A 1-1 road draw at UAB on opening night began the Bisons' regular season and Lipscomb dropped a 3-1 road decision to now 22nd-ranked Louisville. The Bisons' second loss of the season came against Georgia State (4-2) at home last Wednesday.
• Lipscomb was picked fifth in the ASUN Preseason Coaches Poll after going 2-9-6 overall and 1-2-3 in conference play last year. The Bisons finished third out of four teams in the ASUN Gold Division last season.
• Freshman forward Jorge Morejon has scored a goal in two of Lipscomb's first four matches. He is one of six different Bisons who have found the back of the net through four outings.

Up Next
Belmont hits the road this weekend, traveling to East Tennessee State University Saturday. Kickoff from Summers-Taylor Stadium in Johnson City, Tennessee, is slated for 5 p.m. CT/6 p.m. ET. The non-conference road match 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.