OWENSBORO, Ky. — The Bellarmine University men's soccer team blanked its second straight opponent from the Great Midwest Athletic Conference, edging Kentucky Wesleyan 1-0 on Monday at Panther Field.
Junior midfielder
Beau Laufer scored off an assist from sophomore forward
Nathan Jones early in the second half for the Knights (2-1), who were coming off a 1-0 double-overtime win over the G-MAC's Davis & Elkins. Kentucky Wesleyan, a former Great Lakes Valley Conference rival of BU, dropped to 0-2 after opening with a 3-2 loss to Southern Indiana.
"It was a hard three-game stretch, but we were able to see some improvement in this group," BU Coach
Tim Chastonay said. "It was good to get a shutout."
In its final nonconference match of the regular season, Bellarmine thoroughly dominated the shot count, amassing 19 to the three of KWC. Eleven of the Knights' attempts were on goal, while all three of the Panthers' looks were on frame.
Bellarmine couldn't locate the net in the first half despite eight shots, but Laufer broke through shortly after the intermission in the 54th minute after being set up by Jones.
"The goal was off a great pass from Nate to Beau," Chastonay said. "Beau was able to beat two defenders and finish a hard shot to the near post."
Freshman goalkeeper
Zach Pogue has recorded shutouts in the first two starts of his collegiate career. He tallied three saves against the Panthers.
Bellarmine opens GLVC play at 8:30 p.m. (ET) on Friday at McKendree. The Knights will host University of Illinois Springfield at 2:30 p.m. Sunday.
Chastonay did have some misgivings about the Knights' play against the Panthers and will look for progress when league action starts.
"We let some hard fouls and questionable calls get to us today and mentally showed very little toughness," he said. "We have to get better in that area. We had control of the match and let things slip away."
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BOX SCORE (HTM)
