Men's Soccer Season Set to Kickoff

Belmont Vision Multimedia. (Zach Watkins)

For the first time in 284 days, Belmont’s men’s soccer team will be playing in front of a home crowd. 

The Bruins’ season kicks off Thursday in an in-state matchup against the University of Memphis Tigers at E.S. Rose Park.

Belmont will look to improve upon a 2025 season in which the team went 8-3-6, but lost in the first round of the Missouri Valley Conference Men’s Soccer Championship.

That team came firing right out of the gate, rattling off three consecutive wins and holding a 6-0-5 record up until its first loss in mid-October.

Now, the Bruins’ bid for early-season dominance runs through the Tigers, who hold a lifetime 18-2-1 record against Belmont.

However, one of the two losses came last season when the Bruins traveled to Memphis and won 2-0.

This year, Belmont will have to do it without its top five players in minutes from last season and points leader Brock Kiper.

Another notable absence on the pitch for the Bruins will be veteran goalkeeper Grant Calvert, who started 51 of 52 games across the previous three seasons.

That leaves returning junior Miles Kipley as the only player on the roster with any collegiate goalkeeping experience. Kipley appeared in one game last season for less than 14 minutes.

Belmont will be returning sophomores Jaxon Stokes, Nzuhri Biggar and Paul Claes Nielsen, who were second, third and tied for fifth in points, respectively.

With students back on campus, Stokes, Biggar, Claus Nielsen and the rest of the Bruins will have the opportunity to start the season off with a true home crowd on Thursday.

Written by Sam Dicus