LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Coach Tim Chastonay announced the Bellarmine University men's soccer team's first Division I schedule Thursday.

The Knights are slated for nine matches, including four at Owsley B. Frazier Stadium and four in ASUN Conference play. Bellarmine is a member of the ASUN's North Division, and its league schedule will be comprised of home-and-home games against Liberty and Lipscomb.

Coming off an undefeated regular season, GLVC Tournament title and run to the NCAA II Sweet 16 in its final year before the transition, Bellarmine's ASUN and nonconference opponents will intertweave as an effect of the pandemic.

Bellarmine will make its Division I debut Feb. 5 at Kentucky and follow with a Feb. 17 contest at Xavier. The Knights' first-ever D1 home opener will occur Feb. 20 when they welcome Belmont.

Bellarmine dives into ASUN action Feb. 27 by making its league debut at Lipscomb. The Knights will make their ASUN home debut March 6 by hosting Liberty before playing a nonconference game March 10 at Dayton.

The Knights will then sandwich ASUN games March 20 at Liberty and April 3 at home against Lipscomb in their regular-season finale around a March 25 nonconference contest against Evansville at Frazier Stadium.

"Our nonconference schedule will be a real challenge for our team," Chastonay said. "We are jumping right into D1 and giving our guys some great games. The University of Kentucky, University of Dayton, Xavier University and University of Evansville all have a great history of success. They come from some of the best soccer conferences in the country and have made numerous appearances in the NCAA D1 Tournament. Belmont University is a team on the rise, and I think they will make some real noise in their conference this year. Our hope is that the difficult schedule will give our players an opportunity to prepare for what we think will be a hard conference schedule."

"The ASUN looks like a great conference for men's soccer," Chastonay added. "The teams play attractive soccer and games look very competitive. Due to COVID, we will only see Lipscomb and Liberty in the regular season. A couple years ago, Lipscomb made a good run in the NCAA Tournament, so we know they will be a solid opponent. Liberty has a great history of men's soccer and their coach has had successful runs with both Butler and North Carolina State. They play a great brand of soccer and will be a tough game for anyone. We have tried to really just concentrate on our own play through our fall training and preseason this winter. Since we have never played these teams, we will learn a whole lot as the season progresses and we watch them more."
    
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