Box Score NASHVILLE, Tenn. - - Belmont University men's soccer dropped a 1-0 decision to Detroit Saturday afternoon at E.S. Rose Park.
The Bruin program honored six graduating seniors prior to the match - Himesh Zaver, Cody Carpenter, Joao Fonseca, Luca Schioppa, Tyler Vieth, and Diego Figueroa.
The two sides faced cold, blustery conditions in a match with significant Horizon League postseason implications.
The visiting Titans had their six match unbeaten streak snapped Tuesday versus Bowling Green, but showcased great talent and pace, especially in the counter attack.
Early on, Belmont created chances for Carpenter, freshman Rashad Hyacenth (D'Abadie, Trinidad & Tobago), and sophomore Nat Hubert (Chichester, England).
Moreover, the Bruins worked for three corner kicks midway through the half, but service from freshman Adriano Balani (Durres, Albania) did not yield any scoring threats.
As both teams fought for possession and control, in the 38th minute Detroit sent a diagonal cross from the right flank to the left edge of the box.
Titan leading scorer Spiro Pliakos and Belmont defender Ryan Tapley (Pelham, Ala.) raced for it and appeared to collide pursuing the ball, with both men going down.
However, Belmont was deemed to have fouled and Detroit was awarded a penalty kick.
Adam Clauss converted to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.
Belmont had six of the nine credited first half shots.
In the second 45, the Bruins strung together long stretches of possession and opportunities in the attacking third, but time and again were unable to discover a desirable final touch.
Schioppa, in particular, shined in the second half, controlling the Bruin backline while also leading some offensive runs by carrying possession some 60 or 70 yards on his own.
In the 75th minute, a Schioppa free kick set up junior Joonas Bask (Finland) at the six yard line, but his header would be saved by Nathan Steinwascher.
Some overlapping runs from Tapley and Vieth, and solid play from Fonseca kept Belmont on the attack but nothing found the back of the net.
Sophomore goalkeeper Grayson Rector (Peachtree City, Ga.) made an outstanding, sprawling save in the 85th minute to deny Clauss and keep it a one goal game.
One final Balani corner kick would be the Bruins' last chance to equalize.
Much like its meeting against the other Horizon League leader, Oakland, Belmont dictated long stretches of play without seeing it yield a reward.
"We played really well in the middle third and defensively," Belmont head coach Bryan Green said afterwards. "We only gave up the PK goal and one other chance where Grayson came up with a big save. Detroit is an experienced team with the lead, and we didn't create enough quality chances from all the play we had. We got close several times, but the quality of the final pass just wasn't there."
Belmont (3-14-0, 1-6-0 Horizon) completes regular season play next Saturday at UIC. Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m. CT.
