LEXINGTON, Va. - Liam O'Brien posted a hat trick Saturday afternoon as the Belmont University (Tenn.) men's soccer team defeated VMI 5-0 in a Southern Conference match. 

AJ Chastonay started the scoring at 6:32 with an unassisted goal, followed by Esteban Leiva at 13:09 to make the score 2-0. O'Brien got his first goal 11 minutes before halftime and the Bruins held a 3-0 lead at intermission. 

O'Brien followed with two additional tallies after the break at 53:49 and 75:44. Case Cox had two assists on the day.

Broden Schull made six saves for VMI (1-10/0-3), while Dale Romig made four stops in 66:15 minutes in net for Belmont (6-3-1/2-1 SoCon).  

Belmont held a 24-10 advantage in shots and an 8-2 edge in corner kicks. 

The Keydets travel to Mercer next Saturday for another SoCon game at 1 p.m.