BU shakes off early deficit to advance in Opening Round

OMAHA, Neb. -- Goals from Anthony Cox and Oumar Sissoko rallied the Bellevue University men's soccer team from an early deficit as the Bruins defeated Olivet Nazarene 2-1 in the first game of the NAIA National Tournament Opening Round on Thursday afternoon.

Records:

#8 Bellevue: 16-2-2
(RV) Olivet Nazarene: 16-4-1

Bruins 2, ONU 1

Justin Eisenmann scored in the sixth minute to put the fourth-seeded ONU Tigers 1-0 ahead of the top-seeded Bruins. Following a Bellevue give away, Eisenmann raced from near midfield in on goal and slotted a shot low and past AJ Jarvis for the early advantage.

Bellevue, who struggled to string passes together in the opening minutes, found their footing midway through the half and equalized in the 30^th minute. Alex Cuenca sent a cross from in front of the BU bench to the far side of the 6-yard box for Anthony Cox to run onto and rifle into the back of the net.

The Bruins continued to dominate the shot count and possession as the half wore on earning their reward just seven seconds before halftime. On the second of back-to-back corners, Cox whipped an out-swinging ball into the box the Oumar Sissoko hit on a half-volley bicycle kick into the back of the net.

Olivet Nazarene pressed early and often in the second half looking for an equalizer, but as Bellevue had done in its previous postseason games this season, BU sat back and defended well, hitting on the counter when the situations called for it.

Despite out-shooting the host Bruins 8-2 in the second half, ONU never provided an equalizer as the Bruins held on for the 2-1 win.

AJ Jarvis made three saves in goal for the Bruins and Mike Giannotta tallied a pair of stops for the Tigers.

Bellevue finished with advantages of 14-10 in shots and 9-1 in corners while shots on goal were level at four apiece.

Coach Mark Heath-Preston:

"Great team performance again. Zach Robbins was excellent and showed everyone how good of a player he is. Anthony Cox produced a goal and an assist. The fans were amazing and we need them again Saturday."

Man of the Match:

Anthony Cox

Up Next:

Bellevue faces #18-ranked and second seeded MidAmerica Nazarene University (12-6-1), a 2-0 winner over McPherson College later Thursday afternoon, at 4 p.m. on Saturday afternoon from Caniglia Field.

Notes:

• Bellevue improves to 7-2-0 all-time in NAIA Opening Round matches.
• The Bruins are seeking their sixth final site appearance.
• BU is now 5-1-2 in games against teams in this year's National Tournament Field.
• The victory was Bellevue's second (2-7-0) when conceding a goal as well as when conceding the first goal (2-6-0) in the National Tournament.
• The goal was the first allowed by BU from open play since Sept. 18, snapping a streak of 930 minutes and 7 seconds in which the Bruins had allowed just one set piece goal over the previous 10 games.
• Oumar Sissoko's seventh game-winning goal ties him with Inaki Aldao (2020) for the most in a single-season.