JACKSON, Miss. – The Belhaven's men's soccer team is gearing up for the 2012 NAIA National Championship Opening Round matchup against Tennessee Wesleyan on Saturday afternoon at H.T. Newell Field. The Blazers are hosting an opening round game for the third year in a row, having won opening round games in 2010 (St. Thomas) and 2011 (Texas-Brownsville) to move to the round of 16.

The Blazers are looking for similar results this year after grabbing the sixth at-large bid in the 2012 NAIA National Tournament. Belhaven received the 12th seed due to their impressive finish in the final MRPI poll that came out this past weekend.

After starting the year 12-0, the Blazers have gone 2-4-1 in their last seven games, including three losses at home. For whatever reason, Belhaven hasn't played well at home all season, but are hoping that will change on Saturday.

They face a Tennessee Wesleyan team that they beat 5-0 on a neutral field during the second weekend of the season. At the time, Coach Brian McMahon said that the score didn't indicate the level of competition that the Bulldogs were playing at.

The Bulldogs recent stretch over their past 11 games certainly backs up McMahon's theory. They have piled up a 10-0-1 record, dominating the Appalachian Athletic Conference during their conference tournament.

Tennessee Wesleyan defeated Virginia Intermont in that tournament championship, 5-0.

The Bulldogs are led y Luke Winter who has notched 15 goals and four assists for a team best 34 points on the season. John Carrier has six goals and as added 13 assists for 25 points on the season. Tennessee Wesleyan is a solid defensive team, limiting opponents to 1.4 goals per contest.

Belhaven was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the Southern States Athletic Conference 3-0 by Southern Polytechnic State University. The one silver lining is that the team has had some time to rest and recover. The team has been without some key players at times this season due to injury and hopefully the extra down time will be a blessing in disguise.

One of those key injuries was to junior forward Will Monsour. Monsour started the season on fire, tallying 17 goals during Belhaven's hot start to the year.  He hasn't played in Belhaven's last two games, both losses, after being injured in the Blazers 2-0 victory at Auburn-Montgomery two weeks ago. Monsour scored two goals against the Bulldogs the last time the two met on Sept. 1 at the AUM Tournament in Montgomery and is hoping to be back on the field Saturday.  Monsour along with senior defender Tom Cosgrave were both named to the SSAC All-Conference First Team.

Belhaven will have their hands full at home on Saturday, but if they pull through with a victory, there is no telling how far this team can go. They have played well in Montgomery, Alabama, the final site of this year's national championship, going 3-0 on the year.

All National Tournament games after the opening round are played in Montgomery the week after Thanksgiving.

The match gets under way at 1:00 PM CST on Saturday afternoon at H.T. Newell Field. Fans can follow along with live stats, courtesy of Dakstats and the NAIA, and live video provided by Tennessee Wesleyan through the tournament page that can be viewed by clicking here.