LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Bellarmine University men's soccer team will be rekindling what is perhaps the greatest rivalry in BU athletics history as the Knights will welcome Southern Indiana for a 7 p.m. (ET) nonconference contest Tuesday in Owsley B. Frazier Stadium.

This will be the first meeting between Bellarmine (5-3-1) and Southern Indiana (1-7-2) in the Division-I era, but the two programs have a long and storied rivalry, just as the two universities have a long and storied athletics rivalry. Before the Knights made the transition to D1 in 2020 and the Screaming Eagles followed in 2021, they were charter members of D2's Great Lakes Valley Conference, which began men's soccer in 1979.

The two teams' final meeting in D2 came in 2019, Bellarmine's last before the D1 leap. The Knights posted a 5-1 win at home and finished that season 16-1-5 while going unbeaten in the regular season, capturing the GLVC Tournament title and advancing to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA II Tournament.

However, although Bellarmine claimed a lopsided victory in 2019, USI owned a 3-2 advantage over their last five matches in D2, including a 3-2 home win in 2018. Furthermore, the Screaming Eagles have the better of the overall series, holding a 25-15-2 record against the Knights.

The two head coaches are also anything but strangers. Bellarmine's Tim Chastonay and USI's Mat Santoro coached against each other in the D2 clashes from 2009-19.

USI's men's soccer program is actually in its second stint in D1, with the first spanning 1992-94. The Screaming Eagles returned to the GLVC in 1995 and played in the conference through 2021. They are now a member of the Summit League.

USI is coming off its first win of the season and first D1 victory since 1994 after rallying to defeat Eastern Illinois 3-2 Saturday on the road behind two goals 22 seconds apart in the 80th minute by Sam Benoist.

Bellarmine's current three-game winning streak, capped Sunday by a 1-0 ASUN home win over FGCU, ties the D1-era program record. The Knights' three-game shutout streak is also a D1-era program record. Overall, the Knights' three clean sheets this season are one shy of last year's total.

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