Men's Soccer's Season Ends in Tournament Upset to UIC
Belmont’s men’s soccer season came to an end after facing off against the University of Illinois Chicago in the first round of the MVC playoffs.
In a tight game on a cold Saturday night, the Bruins were defeated 1-0 by the Flames after a difficult time trying to convert opportunities into goals.
A large pile-up by the Belmont goal in the 57th minute led to a goal for UIC, scored by freshman AJ Sabanovic, who slipped the ball past the goalkeeper through the chaos.
The game began with aggression from both teams, and the first minute and a half of play saw each side get a run on goal.
The first major opportunity for a Belmont goal came in the 11th minute, when sophomore Paul Claes Nielsen had a cross right across the goal, before a Flame defender barely managed to position himself to block the attempt, forcing the ball off.
Just a few minutes later, a similar scenario played out as grad student Ethan Schlengel was served a great opportunity for a goal only to be thwarted by a diving headbutt from a UIC defender.
“Goals change games in soccer. I think we created two fantastic chances they saved off the line in the first half, one of those goes in, and you’re looking at a different game,” said head coach David Costa.
Despite the constant offense from both sides, no one was able to score by the time the whistle blew to mark the end of the first half.
The parity continued into the second half as both sides struggled to follow through on opportunities, leading to many close moments but no goals.
This would change in the 57th minute when Sabanovic scored to give UIC the lead. Following the goal, more attempts were made by both teams to either extend their advantage or to close the gap, but none were successful.
Belmont senior Lucas Wolthers took a shot in the 75th minute that had the potential for a goal, but strong positioning by the UIC defense forced the shot off goal to the left.
The final few minutes of the match saw the pressure build on the Bruins as they looked for any opportunity to try and keep their season alive, but it was the Flames who continued to maintain offensive pressure.
Belmont goalkeeper freshman Brody Sucher made many spectacular saves in the waning minutes, such as in the 86th minute, when he blocked an on-goal shot by UIC junior Sebastian Khoury that looked set to make the score 2-0.
When the final whistle blew, Belmont was defeated in the first round of the tournament after a tight match that simply did not go the Bruins way.
While statistics showed the UIC Flames holding a clear advantage on the field, having taken 18 shots to the Bruins’ nine, the picture on the ground was different.
The momentum of the game was constantly subject to change, as the teams appeared to be evenly matched throughout much of the 90 minutes of play.
The difference for UIC was the ability to execute on a key opportunity and score a goal while Belmont could not.
With the game having been lost, the men’s soccer team is eliminated from the MVC Championship in the first round, marking the end of their campaign. They now look ahead to next season for another shot at the title.
UIC will now play No.1 seed Bowling Green in the semifinals on Wednesday.
This article was written by Mason Merkle
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