LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Bellarmine University men's soccer team will host ASUN rival Liberty in a 7 p.m. (ET) showdown Saturday at Owsley B. Frazier Stadium.

LAST TIME OUT
Bellarmine (5-5-1, 1-3 ASUN) had a shaky outing Saturday in Fort Myers, Florida against FGCU. The Knights fell 1-0, and it took a near-perfect strike on a very difficult shot for the Eagles to locate the net.

However, while Bellarmine's defense was sound, the Knights never got untracked offensively or in the possession game. They attempted a single shot, and that came from distance. While clearly better than its record indicated, FGCU nonetheless entered the contest with a single win, magnifying Bellarmine's uncharacteristic struggles to generate any genuine scoring chances.

"FGCU was a really tough game for us," Knights Coach Tim Chastonay said. "I thought we stuck to our game plan and we were in a good position at halftime. Unfortunately, we could not sustain attacks and were unable to create enough goal-scoring opportunities. We did show great commitment on the defensive end. To steal a game on the road, we will need to be better building attacks and creating chances." 

ABOUT LIBERTY
Liberty has been streaky this season. The Flames opened the season with three losses, but they regrouped for five straight wins, including ASUN victories over Stetson and FGCU.

Liberty followed with consecutive losses to Lipscomb, 3-2, and Jacksonville, 2-0, in its two most conference games. However, the Flames are coming off a 9-1 nonconference thumping of VMI, marking their highest goal tally since amassing nine against Southern Virginia in a 2011 contest.

Noah Holmes has racked up a team-high five goals and Michael Huss has registered four for Liberty. Seth Clark has collected five assists. Clark, fellow midfielder Marko Mitrevski and defender Malik Smith were each named ASUN Preseason All-Conference.

"Liberty looks like a very good team again this season," Chastonay said. "They are dangerous going forward and have scored a good number of goals. They have some big wins and have played a good schedule. We will need to be committed to our plan and really need some individuals to have a good game." 

ASUN STANDINGS
Six of the eight teams in the ASUN will earn berths in the ASUN Championship. With three conference games remaining, Bellarmine is tied for seventh in the league with three points. Four teams have earned six points while Central Arkansas and Stetson are tied for the lead with nine.

"Our approach will be to take one game at a time," Chastonay said. "The league has so much parity, so each game will be a good test. Continue to work hard at training and improve as a group is our goal." 

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