ROLLA, Mo. – With a date with the No. 1-ranked team in NCAA Division II on the horizon, Missouri S&T's men's soccer team made sure to take care of the business at hand on Friday night first as it dispatched Bellarmine by a 2-0 count at the S&T Soccer Field.

The Miners, ranked 17^th in NCAA Division II, scored an early goal in each half and let their defense take care of matters from there to improve to 6-1 overall and 4-1 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. S&T can now set its sights on Sunday's showdown with Northern Kentucky – who won 1-0 at Drury Friday for its 17^th straight win – that will take place at 2:30 p.m. on the Miners' home pitch.

Kyle Schraier (St. Louis, Mo./Christian Brothers College ) got the Miners on the scoreboard Friday at the 9:47 mark of the first half, finishing off a play that started back on S&T's end of the field. Freshman defender Taylor Arens (Springfield, Mo./Catholic HS) sent a long pass upfield that Jervis Atagana (Columbia, Mo./Hickman ) ran down, then Atagana sent a cross in front right to the feet of Schraier in front of the net which he redirected into the goal.

Atagana had a hand in the second Miner goal as well in a similar manner, sending a feed in front of the net that Knight goalkeeper Blake Hunter got a hand on, but Peter Vaccaro (Ballwin, Mo./Parkway West ) got to the loose ball and headed it past Hunter to extend the S&T lead.

The Miners were outshot by a 14-13 margin on the evening, but the Miner defense allowed only two of those 14 shots to reach goalkeeper Pat McNamee (Fenton, Mo./Vianney ) as he recorded his fourth shutout of the season and 24^th in his career. 

Friday's game marked the third consecutive time that the Miners had kept Bellarmine off the scoreboard.