The Lady Toppers (4-0-0) are headed to Music City to face off against the Belmont Bruins (3-3-0) Thursday night.

WKU is off to its best start since 2001 after handing the Louisville Cardinals their first loss of the season in a 1-0 shutout Sunday night on the road.

“We got to recover, we got to look at some film, and we got to get ready for really good Belmont team who I think is undefeated at home this season, so it’s gonna be a tough match for us,” head coach Jason Neidell said following the win over the Cardinals. “Coming off a win like this, you always worry that your kids are going to be a little bit complacent. I think we’ve got to get recovered and get after it in practice this week.”

WKU senior defender Lyric Schmidt earned C-USA Defensive Player of the Week following a standout defensive performance against Louisville, illustrating just how strong the Lady Toppers’ defense has been so far this season. WKU has relented just two goals.

The Belmont Bruins opened their season on the road and suffered a 1-0 shutout loss to Middle Tennessee followed by a 3-0 blowout loss to Evansville.

The Bruins returned home to E.S. Rose Park and took down Chattanooga 2-1 in double-overtime in their home-opening match. The Georgia Bulldogs hosted Belmont two days later in Athens, Georgia and the Bruins were shut out 5-0.

The following week, the Bruins defeated Houston Baptist 1-0 in overtime followed by a 3-2 takedown of Detroit Mercy to remain perfect (3-0) at home.

Belmont senior midfielder Kayla Monis holds two points this season, notching a goal against Detroit Mercy. Sophomore forward and midfielder Maci Pekmezian owns two points season as well, as she found the back of the net in the match against Chattanooga.

The Lady Toppers will take the field at E.S. Rose Park on Thursday, Sept. 9 at 6:30 p.m. CT for the team’s second road match of the season.

Soccer reporter Drew Toennies can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @drew_toennies.