LOUISVILLE, Ky. — After a brief pitstop at home, the Bellarmine University men's soccer team returns to the road to face Eastern Illinois at 2 p.m. (ET) Saturday.

Bellarmine (0-1-3) and Eastern Illinois (1-1-1) have met once in the Division-I era, with the Knights capturing a 2-1 home win in 2021. Defender Brock Pope and forward Juan Ballas, both current members of the team, scored for BU.

Five of Bellarmine's first six games are on the road. The Knights are coming off their home opener, a scoreless draw with Northern Kentucky, after beginning the year with three matches away from Owsley B. Frazier Stadium. EIU is the first of two straight on the road, the latter of which is BU's ASUN debut at Central Arkansas.

Eastern Illinois is in the midst of a five-game home stretch. The Panthers opened the season with a 1-0 win over Governors State. They then fell 2-1 to Bradley before posting a 1-1 draw with IUPUI. Three different players have scored their three goals.

Bellarmine recorded its first shutout in the scoreless stalemate with Northern Kentucky. The Knights held a 14-8 advantage in shots and had several promising build-ups in the second half but couldn't locate the net. Senior goalkeeper Matthew Brozovich recorded his 10th career shutout, moving him into a tie for eighth all-time in the program record book.

Three of Bellarmine's four defenders against NKU were first-year Knights. Senior Austin Yowell is a transfer, true freshman Karl Lundstrom Svahnqvist made his first collegiate start and redshirt freshman Jeffrey Cox made his second. Pope, the fourth defender, is a veteran Knight. All four played the entire game.

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