NASHVILLE, Tenn. – After falling behind early in its season opener at Belmont, the Lipscomb men’s soccer team failed to find any offensive production and dropped the road match 2-0 at E.S. Rose Park Friday night.

“It’s a tough way to start the season, it doesn’t matter if it’s Belmont or someone else,” head coach Charles Morrow said. “We had our moments in the game, but just couldn’t capitalize.

“The two goals we gave up, we’re not used to seeing that. One was just an unlucky deflection and then the other was off of one individual mistake.”

The loss for Lipscomb (0-1) was the first in the Battle of the Boulevard since 2005.

Sophomore Rashad Hyacenth paced the Bruins Friday, scoring both goals in the match.

At 9:19 in the first half, the Bruins (1-0) were awarded a free kick 20 yards out just at the top of the box. Hyacenth found some luck when he struck the ball off a teammate and it deflected into the right side of the net as Lipscomb goalie Micah Bledsoe could not recover and the Bruins went on top 1-0.

Lipscomb had a great look in the 62^nd minute when junior Kevin McMahon settled a ball of his chest and played it to an open Matt Kerridge 25 yards out. Kerridge got a left-footed effort on the ball but hooked it just outside the right post.

The Bisons picked up the offensive tempo in the second period and managed to get three good looks in a span of six minutes. None was better than the effort from redshirt freshman Logan Paynter in the 66^th minute when the Bradenton, Florida native nearly found an equalizer from the left side of the box but his attempt finished just wide of the left post.

With Belmont clinging to a one-goal lead in the 79^th, Hyacenth got behind the Bisons defense and in a one-on-one situation with Micah Bledsoe, he flicked the ball over the goalie and scored on an open net to put the game away.

“We did a lot of good things tonight,” Morrow said. “Even though the score line doesn’t reflect it, there are probably more things to build on than there were negatives tonight.

“There is a lot of youth on this team and we will go through some tough times this season, but as the guys get more accustomed to our style of play I think we will be fine. Overall we are definitely excited about this season, but we are not happy with the result tonight.”

Quick Kicks:

• Lipscomb put two of its seven shots on frame compared to four of 12 for Belmont.
• Redshirt freshman Logan Paynter led the Bisons with three shot attempts.
• Belmont held a 5-4 corner kick advantage.
• Friday night 1,123 fans showed up, setting the E.S. Rose Park attendance record.

Up Next:

Lipscomb returns to action Sunday for its home opener against Eastern Illinois. Game time at the Lipscomb Soccer Complex begins at 6 p.m.

“The game Sunday is more about us and not about who we are playing,” Morrow said. “We just have to make sure we get some rest and get recovered. Probably our biggest thing going into that game will be our mentality.

“They guys have to come into that game with the same belief as they would have if we had won this game.

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