Meet the new Bruins: Matteo Bennati

Freshman soccer player Matteo Bennati came to Belmont from Genoa, Italy and has already seen success with the Bruins in his short time with the team.

In his first five games as a Bruin, Bennati scored two goals and had one assist.

He came to the United States so he could study business while still pursuing his love of soccer.

“In Italy, it was so difficult to do sports and university too. We don’t have college soccer there, so school and soccer are two separate things. Here you have this ability to study while you play,” he said.

In his search for colleges, he found “the best one was Belmont, so I just took the opportunity.”

When he’s not playing soccer, Bennati enjoys hanging out with his friends and watching more soccer — his favorite team is the hometown Genoa C.F.C..

Bennati loves Belmont because of the beautiful campus.

“I saw it on Youtube and videos before coming here, but when you’re here, it’s another thing. It’s way better.”

Bennati hopes to play well during his time at Belmont, but graduating with good grades is also a priority.

“After that I’ll just see what comes.”

Bennati wears No. 16 for the Bruins. See him and the rest of the team play Saturday at Rose Park.

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Photo courtesy of Belmont Athletics