LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Bellarmine University men's soccer team is hoping the second year of a de facto Great Lakes Valley Conference-Great Midwest Athletic Conference challenge to start the regular season offers just as much strong competition as the inaugural matches, perhaps minus the balance in the win-loss column.

Bellarmine and Indianapolis of the GLVC and Davis & Elkins and Cedarville of the G-MAC are in the second of a four-year agreement to meet at one venue on the opening weekend of play, with the GLVC schools taking on the G-MAC representatives. Last season, at UIndy, all four teams went 1-1 over the two days of matches.

"The games last year were all very close and provided each team the level of competition needed to get ready for conference opponents," Bellarmine Coach Tim Chastonay said. "Both Davis & Elkins and Cedarville played good soccer and had some very talented players."

Davis & Elkins is the host this season, and that's who Bellarmine will lead off with at 7:30 p.m. (ET) on Thursday. The Knights defeated the Senators 1-0 in double overtime last season. Davis & Elkins was picked to finish third in the G-MAC in the preseason coaches' poll after finishing 7-8-3 last season. Simon Hestad returns after leading the Senators with four goals a year ago.

"We don't have a good deal of information on Davis & Elkins," Chastonay said. "They have a new coach (Frank Olszewski) and many players back from a young squad last season. It was a very close game last season that we found a way to win in overtime. I look for them to be a solid test for our team to open the season."

Bellarmine faces Cedarville at 1:30 p.m. Saturday. The Yellow Jackets defeated the Knights 3-0 last season. Cedarville went on to finish the year 15-4-2 and captured the G-MAC regular season and tournament titles while advancing to the Midwest Region semifinals of the Division II NCAA Tournament. Connor Gilmour is back for the G-MAC preseason favorite after scoring 17 goals in 21 matches last season.

"Cedarville is coming off a great run last year making the NCAA Tournament," Chastonay said. "They beat Quincy (3-0) but then fell to Rockhurst (3-0) in the tournament. They are well-coached and played very good soccer last year. I'm expecting nothing less from them this year."

In two home preseason exhibitions, Bellarmine defeated Georgetown College 2-1 and tied Spalding 1-1 while consistently shuttling in substitutions. The Knights held a combined 40-9 advantage in shots, attempting 20 in both exhibitions and not allowing more than six opportunities in either. However, Georgetown scored with minimal resistance 25 seconds into the match, and Spalding tied it up on a penalty kick with a little over one minute left in regulation after a defensive lapse. Those are things Chastonay is looking to shore up as Bellarmine heads into opening weekend.

"The preseason games were a great opportunity for us to play against some outside competition and allowed us to see many of our players in action," he said. "The games allowed us to be able to evaluate the players individually and collectively. We have been able to watch film and put together sessions that can help us improve in the areas we struggled. We felt very good about the amount of chances we created in the games but were definitely concerned about how we defended overall as a group."

NOTE: A Davis & Elkins representative said the host school will attempt to have live stats for the matches but noted the Internet connection at the facility has been unstable. A live stats link will be added on the Bellarmine athletics website if one becomes available.

For more coverage of Bellarmine athletics, follow us on Twitter (@BUKnights), Instagram (BUKnights) and Facebook (BUKnights).

Bellarmine at Davis & Elkins
Date: Thursday, Sept. 1
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Location: Davis & Elkins

Bellarmine vs. Cedarville
Date: Saturday, Sept. 3
Time: 1:30 p.m.
Location: Davis & Elkins