Bulldogs Race Past IPFW, 4-0

Four different players found the back of the net and goalkeeper Fabian Knopfler recorded his 11th career shutout to lead Butler to a 4-0 victory over visiting IPFW in a non-league match at the Butler Bowl on Wednesday (Sept. 1).  It was the men’s soccer season-opener for both teams.

The Bulldogs, who launched 22 shots in the match, jumped to an early lead when sophomore Julian Cardona cleaned up a rebound off a shot by senior Ben Sippola, just 9:55 into the match.  It was Cardona’s seventh career goal and would prove to be the game-winner.

Freshman Austin Oldham stretched the margin to 2-0 at 34:54 with a shot from seven yards out after taking a crossing pass from Blake Leyden.  Sippola started the play with a pass up-field.  And junior Matt Hedges finished a deflected shot by sophomore Blake Leyden seconds before the end of the first half to make it 3-0 at the end of the first period.

Senior Kyle Pateros closed out the scoring 13 minutes into the second half with a header off a corner kick by sophomore Jared Isenthal.  It was the 11th career goal for the Butler midfielder.

“I thought we were incredibly sharp today,” said Butler head coach Kelly Findley after the match.  “We created a great number of opportunities, and their goalkeepers really made some great saves.  We had good play from our starters, and we were really pleased with the guys who came off the bench.”

Knopfler went the distance in goal and recorded three saves in the match.

The Bulldogs will begin a stretch of six consecutive matches away from home with a trip to Xavier for a non-league match on Saturday, Sept. 4.  The contest will start at 7 p.m.