#6 Bulldogs Close Regular Season At Home
HOME FINALE: Butler will try to close out
the first unbeaten regular season in school history when it hosts
Horizon League foe Cleveland State on Friday, Nov. 5. The
match at the Butler Bowl will have an unusual 10 a.m. (ET) starting
time to accommodate Butler’s hosting of the Horizon League
Women’s Soccer Championship later in the day. The
#6-ranked Bulldogs (15-0-1, 7-0-0 Horizon League), who clinched a
second consecutive Horizon League regular season title a week ago,
will be facing a team that has already pulled off the biggest upset
of the 2010 college soccer campaign. Cleveland State (8-9-0,
4-3 HL) handed top-ranked Akron a 2-1 setback last week, the
Zips’ first regular season loss since 2008! The Vikings
also handed Butler its only Horizon League loss a year ago.
Butler will host the Horizon League Men’s Soccer
Championship, beginning on Nov.
12.
Butler is one of two unbeaten teams in the NCAA Division
I. The Bulldogs lead Division I in won-lost-tied percentage
(.969).
SENIOR RECOGNITION: Butler will pay tribute
to 11 seniors on this year’s squad following the match with
Cleveland State. The players to be honored are Troy Blewitt
(Carmel), Conner Burt (Elkhart), Jacob Capito
(Fort Wayne), Michael Clayton (Kansas City, Mo.), Brett Heinz
(Leawood, Kan.), Fabian Knopfler (Reutlingen, Germany), Dustin
Mares (Mishawaka), Kyle Pateros (Janesville, Wis.), Nick
Powell (Madison, Wis.), Matt Sall (Greenwood) and Ben Sippola
(Northfield, Minn.). The 11 seniors have helped Butler to a
51-13-11 record and two league championships over the past four
seasons.
ROAD SWEEP: The Bulldogs closed out the road
portion of their 2010 schedule with back-to-back victories at #25
Indiana, 4-1, and at Horizon League foe Detroit, 2-0.
Sophomore Tyler Pollock scored a pair of goals, while senior Jacob
Capito and freshman Austin Oldham each added one to help Butler to
a win at Indiana for the second consecutive year. Three days
later, the Bulldogs wrapped up their second consecutive Horizon
League regular season title with a shutout at Detroit. Junior
Matt Hedges scored the eventual game-winner just over ten minutes
into the match, while freshman Adekunle Oluyedun added an insurance
goal just before halftime. Senior goalkeeper Fabian Knopfler
picked up his seventh shutout of the season.
POLLING DATA: Butler has climbed into the
“Top 10” in several of the national college soccer
polls. The Bulldogs are ranked #6 by both Soccer Times and
College Soccer News and No. 10 in the Top Drawer Soccer Tournament
48 poll. Goal.com lists Butler at #3. The Bulldogs
continue to be ranked third in the Great Lakes Region, behind the
nation’s top two teams, Louisville and Akron.
BULLDOG BITS: Butler seniors Conner Burt and
Ben Sippola were named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District V Team,
announced on Tuesday (Nov. 2). Burt was a first team Academic
All-America pick a year ago, while Sippola was named to the NSCAA
Scholar All-North/Central Region Team in 2009. Both players
will be on the Academic All-America ballot this year...Junior Matt
Hedges was chosen to the TopDrawerSoccer.com Team of the Week,
following his performance in Butler’s victories over Indiana
and Detroit...Butler goalkeeper Fabian Knopfler leads the Horizon
League and ranks sixth in the NCAA Division I in goals against
average (0.52). Knopfler also leads the league in shutouts
(7)...Ben Sippola leads the Horizon League and ranks ninth in
Division I in total assists (9)...Butler ranks sixth in Division I
in total goals (38) and in goals against average (0.48). The
Bulldogs stand seventh in Division I in scoring offense (2.38).
