Bellevue-Ashford to be featured as NAIA Game of the Week

NAIA Men's Soccer

Full Release

BELLEVUE, Neb. - The Bellevue University men's soccer game against Ashford University on Saturday will be featured as the NAIA National Game of the Week, as announced by the NAIA earlier today. This will mark the first time this season that any Bellevue team has been featured in a Game of the Week setting. The game will take place at 2:00 p.m. at Tranquility Park on Maple Street in Omaha, Neb.

The Bruins (8-1-1) are the number 18 team in the country according to the latest Coaches' Poll which came out on Tuesday. BU is unbeaten in their last nine contests and their only loss came on the road against number 7 Grand View. The Saints (5-1-3) - having won three straight and being unbeaten in their last six - were ranked number 10 in the same poll and have been ranked all season.

Bellevue has been led by a potent offensive attack which has seen BU average 2.2 goals per game while the defense has helped out by allowing just eight goals on the season and recording five shutouts. Freshman Rob Smith (Lincoln, England) leads the team in points (17), assists (5), and game-winning goals (4) while ranking second with six goals. Junior Tobias Maertzke (Hamburg, Germany) has a team-best seven goals on the season and ranks second with 15 total points. Senior Scott Robertson (Lincolnshire, England) has seen the bulk of the action in goal for Bellevue playing 741:50 minutes while posting a 0.73 goals against average to go along with an .818 save percentage, 27 saves, and three complete match shutouts.

Ashford, who reached the 2013 NAIA semi-finals, is scoring at a clip of 2.0 goals per game and has only allowed nine goals on the season. Javier Ramirez (5 goals, 10 points), Adam Wood (4 goals, 3 assists, 11 points), and Casey Culver (3 goals, 2 assists, 8 points) have provided the majority of the offense for the Saints and will attempt to continue that trend on Saturday. Chris Higgins has played all 870 minutes in goal for Ashford with a 0.93 goals against average, .833 save percentage, 45 saves, and three shutouts.

Additional Game Notes:

• This will be the second meeting all-time between the two schools, Ashford won the first meeting, 5-1 in Clinton, Iowa on Sept. 28, 2013
• Bellevue, at 8-1-1, is off to their best start since opening the 2005 season 10-1-0
• Bellevue's nine-match unbeaten streak is their longest since an 11-game win streak during the 2008 season
• Bellevue is 0-1-1 against ranked teams this season, losing on the road to Grand View 2-0 and drawing at Benedictine1-1
• Bellevue is a perfect 4-0 at home on the year
• Bellevue is 4-0-1 in games decided by one or fewer goals in 2014
• Bellevue's Rob Smith ranks third in the nation with three game winning goals, 21^st in assists (5), 33^rd in total points (17), and 42^nd in assists per game (0.50)
• Bellevue's Scott Robertson ranks 19^th in the nation with a 0.73 goals against average
• Bellevue's Tobias Maertzke ranks 29^th in the nation with seven goals
• Bellevue's Manuel Lira ranks 45^th in the nation with four assists
• Ashford's Chris Higgins ranks 24^th in the nation with 45 saves, 33^rd in goals against average (0.93), and 43^rd in saves per game (5.0)
• Ashford's Javier Ramirez ranks 32^nd in the nation with 2.22 shots on goal per game
• Ashford's Murilo Ceruli ranks 45^th in the nation with four assists