CHARLOTTE, NC — The Bellarmine University men's soccer team struck gold on Saturday night.
The Knights sewed up the ASUN Gold Division championship when their 1-1 draw with Queens was followed later by Lipscomb's 6-1 win over Central Arkansas.
The 2025 Knights (8-3-4, 3-1-2 ASUN) have forever etched their name in Bellarmine athletics history, becoming the first BU team in any sport in the Division-I era to win a regular-season title. The point earned from the stalemate with the Royals (5-6-6, 0-2-4) at Queens Sports Complex proved to be the difference, as the Knights finished with 11 points in conference play compared to 10 for Central Arkansas.
Bellarmine will host one side of the bracket. The Knights will meet the winner of Saturday's Jacksonville/Lipscomb quarterfinal at 7 p.m. (ET) Monday in the semifinals.
Bellarmine will be a divisional top seed in the ASUN Championship for the second time. The Knights were as well from the North Division in the spring of 2021, when the fall 2020 season was pushed back due to the pandemic. Although BU had a first-place finish, the ASUN opted that season not to declare division champions.
This year's top placement came with the acknowledgement of a divisional championship by the ASUN, and the unprecedented feat is one Bellarmine will cherish, especially considering it's the 28th and final year for
Tim Chastonay before he retires from head coaching at the end of the season. The Knights did the bulk of their damage in conference play in Owsley B. Frazier Stadium, piling up nine points after going 3-0 on their home turf in league action while being steady enough on the road in three games to earn two more crucial points via draws.
On Saturday, after a scoreless first half, Bellarmine got on the board in the 63rd minute. After receiving a pass from sophomore midfielder
Nick Harshaw, sophomore forward
Johan Nissen-Lie laced a shot from 20 yards inside the left post for his ninth goal of the season.
After having a late go-ahead goal against Lipscomb the previous game overturned on video review in an eventual 1-1 draw, Bellarmine got a lucky break when replays clearly showed that a Queens shot that deflected downward off the crossbar did indeed land inside the line before popping out. A goal was not awarded during live play and, fortunately for the Knights, the site didn't have video review.
Queens still managed to equalize the contest when Bellarmine was called for a foul in the box in the 79th minute, and Vitor Baptistelli was successful on the ensuing penalty kick.
That's how the match would end. Queens finished with a 17-13 advantage in shots, but Bellarmine had a 5-4 edge on frame. The teams had six corner kicks apiece.
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