LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Bellarmine University men's soccer team will compete in its penultimate nonconference game of the season when the Knights travel to Belmont for a 7:30 p.m. (ET) contest Wednesday in Nashville, Tennessee.

Bellarmine (4-3-1) will follow the clash with Belmont (4-3-1) with four consecutive ASUN matchups before playing Oct. 26 at Kentucky in its final nonconference outing of the season.

LAST TIME OUT
Bellarmine fell 2-0 Saturday at Central Arkansas in ASUN play. The Knights conceded a goal in each half in dropping to 0-2 in conference play.

Bellarmine faced a challenging start to league action — Lipscomb, which the Knights opened ASUN competition against, was ranked No. 22 in the national poll while Central Arkansas was receiving votes.

Bellarmine matched the Bears with five shots on frame and had an 8-6 edge in corner kicks, but the Knights were unable to convert on any of their opportunities. UCA was also the first team this season to score more than one goal against Bellarmine in regulation time, which may have been partially self-inflicted by the Knights.

"Central Arkansas is a great team and it's easy to see why they have been getting national recognition in the polls," Knights Coach Tim Chastonay said. "We knew it would be a difficult game for a variety of reasons. It was a great effort by the guys under some tough conditions of having a midweek away game and the travel down to Arkansas. We made some careless mistakes on the goals and were not able to capitalize on our own chances."

ABOUT BELMONT
Belmont dropped a 2-1 decision at Furman on Saturday in a Southern Conference contest, but the Bruins preceded that by going 4-0-1 over their previous five games, including a 1-1 draw with Lipscomb.

Forward Niccolo Dagnoni's three goals and three assists both lead Belmont, which is 4-0 at home. Midfielder AJ Chastonay, the son of Bellarmine's head coach, has scored a pair of goals as has Liam O'Brien. Goalkeeper Drew Romig carries a 0.95 goals-against average and posted three shutouts.

Dagnoni, Romig and midfielder Kyle Barks were all selected to the Preseason All-SoCon Team. The Bruins were picked in a tie for third in the league's preseason coaches' poll.

Belmont defeated Bellarmine 3-0 in Louisville last season, but there were some extenuating circumstances as the Knights played a man down for 80 minutes, hanging tight until the Bruins netted all their goals in roughly the final third of the contest.

"Belmont is having a good year and they are very good at home," Chastonay said. "They are very good defensively and can make it really difficult on their opponents. Offensively, they have quality players and look dangerous going forward. It's a very balanced and well-coached team." 

FAMILY FACE-OFF
AJ Chastonay is one of the primary players Bellarmine will look to keep under wraps. In last season's game, he scored Belmont's first two goals in the win over the Knights.

Chastonay finished last season with a team-high five goals and added two assists while being named second-team All-SoCon and to the league's All-Freshman Team.

"It will be great to see AJ tomorrow, even though he will be playing for the other team," the elder Chastonay said. "He has been gone since late July, so it will be great to just have a few minutes to speak with him. I have always enjoyed watching him play the game of soccer, which he has had so much passion for since he was young and coming out to our games at Bellarmine. 

"It will be a very divided house tomorrow. I'll be hoping for a win and I am sure AJ will be doing his best to get a win for Belmont. Kelli (mother) will most likely be hoping for a draw, and Ryan (brother) will be waiting to let us all know the mistakes we made during the game, regardless of the result."

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