With the regular season coming to an end, the men’s soccer team hopes to kick it into high gear and improve their 2-7-1 record as they transition into conference play.
Non-conference season for men’s soccer proved to be a struggle, only winning two of the ten games played.
The first half of their schedule consisted of nine away matches, including a tough loss at the nationally ranked University of Louisville.
“We’ve played an incredibly difficult schedule,” said head coach David Costa. “It has been tough playing most of our matches while living in hotels, but it’s the hand we were dealt and I believe we did the best we could.”
The 2019 season marks the Bruins’ second year in the Southern Conference and Costa’s first as head coach of the men’s team.
Costa transitioned to Belmont from the position of associate head coach at Xavier University, where he helped lead the team to a winning record of 11-6-3.
The Bruins’ leading scorer this season, sophomore Niccolo Dagnoni, said Costa’s coaching tactics were cohesive and efficient for the young men’s team.
“We are all committed to putting in the hard work to create a winning program,” said Dagnoni. “The values and ideas coach has brought to our team has given us a positive attitude throughout the season.”
Following their last non-conference match of the season, the Bruins have an 11-day break until their first conference match at home against Wofford University.
However, the prominent label of conference play in the second half of the season isn’t stopping Costa and his team from remaining confident, he said.
“This team is all that matters to me now,” said Costa. “We are going to grow from every game, every training session, be the best team we can be and not worry about anything else.”
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This article written by Julieann Challacombe. Photo by Colby Crosby.