Full Notes (PDF)

GO EAST, YOUNG MEN: Butler travels to Queens, N.Y., for a Saturday night match-up with St. John's. The Bulldogs, ranked No. 11 nationally, are 8-3-1 overall and 3-1 in BIG EAST play. St. John's is 1-1-2 in conference play and 5-3-4 overall. The 7 p.m. start will be streamed live on ESPN3.
 
ON THE NATIONAL SCENE: The Bulldogs are ranked No. 11 in this week's NSCAA national poll. Butler has climbed as high as No. 7 in that poll this season. This week, the Bulldogs also come in at No. 9 in both the College Soccer News and Top Drawer Soccer rankings.
 
WHO DOES YOUR SCHEDULING?: Coach Paul Snape has tested his team against some of the nation's best competition this season, especially over the past few weeks. Butler's last four matches have included games at Indiana and Creighton and home matches with Georgetown and Denver. Indiana, Creighton and Denver are each ranked in the top nine nationally this week, while Georgetown is the defending BIG EAST champion and was ranked in the top 10 in preseason polls.
 
RACE TO THE FINISH: Monday night's contest against Denver was Butler's last step outside of BIG EAST play. The Bulldogs have five regular season match-ups remaining with all coming against conference foes. Butler finished its non-conference schedule with an impressive 5-2-1 mark.
 
BIG EAST LEADERBOARD: The Bulldogs are 3-1 in BIG EAST play so far this season. That is tied with Xavier in the league standings (nine points) and second only to Creighton, which is 3-0-1 (10 points). Statistically, Butler's opening stretch of BIG EAST play has been the toughest with their four opponents occupying four of the top five conference spots in the RPI rankings (excluding Butler). Creighton (7), Villanova (34), Providence (46) and Georgetown (49) were the opponents in Butler's opening 3-1 stretch. Xavier is No. 17 in this week's RPI. The Bulldogs and Musketeers will match up in the regular season finale Nov. 3.
 
THE MATCH-UP: Butler and St. John's meet for the eighth time in a series that dates back to the 1996 season, but has become a consistent match-up on the annual calendar since Butler joined the BIG EAST in 2013. The Red Storm lead the series 5-1-1, but the Bulldogs won the most recent match-up, prevailing 2-1 on Oct. 17, 2015 in Indianapolis.
 
ONE SEASON AGO: In Butler's 2-1 victory over St. John's a season ago in Indianapolis, Marco Charalambous scored the first goal of his Butler career, giving Butler a 1-0 lead in the 49^th minute. After St. John's leveled the match six minutes later, Bennett Kim scored the game-winner in the 66^th minute. Keeper Eric Dick made two saves as Butler out-shot SJU, 15-12, in the contest.
 
LAST TIME OUT: Two of the top programs in the country clashed on Monday night at the Butler Bowl with #7 Denver holding off #9 Butler by the final score of 1-0. The game-winner came off the foot of Blake Elder who netted his sixth goal of the season off an assist from Reagan Dunk. Butler out-shot Denver, 10-8.
 
BY THE NUMBERS: The NCAA released its third RPI rankings of the season Monday, and Butler remained at No. 6. Eight of the 10 BIG EAST programs are ranked in the Top 100. The Bulldogs have tied with No. 2 Louisville already this season, and all but one of their wins have been over Top 100 programs: Villanova (34), Providence (46), Georgetown (49), UC Santa Barbara (62), and Evansville (86).
 
CLASS ACT: David Goldsmith has been selected as a Senior Class Award candidate for the 2016 season. A total of 60 NCAA men's and women's soccer student-athletes who excel both on and off the field were selected. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.
 
THIRD TIME'S THE CHARM: Senior David Goldsmith had three goals in two matches, earning BIG EAST Player of the Week honors on Oct. 3, which was the third time in four weeks. Goldsmith had a goal at Indiana followed by two goals in the win over Georgetown to earn his most recent recognition.
 
CLEAN SHEET: In a battle of unbeatens at the time, Indiana got by Butler, 3-2, in overtime Sept. 28. Entering that contest, Butler was one of just five programs remaining in the country without a loss.
 
90 IS NEVER ENOUGH: For the fourth consecutive year, Butler and Indiana required extra time as the Top 10 unbeaten programs met Sept. 28 at Bill Armstrong Stadium in Bloomington. In the 97th minute, IU's Austin Panchot scored to give the Hoosiers a 3-2 win in dramatic fashion. Butler went up 2-0 in the 62^nd minute before IU scored goals in the 75^th and 80^th minutes to tie the match.
 
SCORING AT WILL: With two goals against Georgetown, senior David Goldsmith now has 10 on the season. His 10 goals are seventh in the NCAA and his average of 0.83 goals per game is eighth nationally. His 23 points and 1.92 points per game are fifth in the country. He leads the BIG EAST in all categories.
 
THESE KIDS CAN PLAY: Freshmen Lewis Suddick and Isaac Galliford each had a goal in the win over Georgetown. Galliford added an assist. Suddick is fourth in the BIG EAST with seven goals on the season. That mark is also 28th nationally. His 1.33 points per game are fifth in the BIG EAST and 45^th nationally. Galliford and Suddick each have two game-winning goals on the season, tied for fourth in the conference along with David Goldsmith.
 
EVERYONE'S IN ON THE ACT: Despite being shut out in its past two matches, Butler has 27 goals through 12 matches this season, with that average of 2.25 goals ranking ninth in the NCAA (Florida Gulf Coast leads at 3.17). The Bulldogs are also seventh in the country at 6.67 points per game. Seven different Bulldogs have scored goals so far this season, while 13 players have registered at least one point.
 
HELPING FEET: Midfielder Jared Timmer has five assists on the season, which is fourth in the conference and 44th nationally. He had only one assist in 2015. Senior Mitch Ostrowski has four assists so far this season after having only two in his first 48 matches as a Bulldog. His assists total is seventh in the BIG EAST.
 
LAST LINE OF DEFENSE: Goalkeeper Eric Dick has orchestrated shutouts in four of Butler's matches thus far this season, posting a 1.13 goals against average. His four shutouts are tied for second in the BIG EAST. He has 41 saves on the season, highlighted by nine saves at Indiana, which was just off the 10 saves he registered in the regular season opener at Louisville. Dick also turned away a penalty kick at IU.
 
ON THE DEFENSIVE: Senior defender Mitch Ostrowski guided the defense in an impressive 2-0 week, earning BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week honors on Sept. 26. Butler allowed only one goal in 180 minutes of play, including posting a shutout against Providence. Ostrowski also had two assists in the team's 3-1 win over Evansville. In the two matches, Butler combined to out-shoot its opponents 36-15. Lewis Suddick had a pair of goals, earning BIG EAST Honor Roll accolades.
 
THIS GUY IS ON FIRE: Senior forward David Goldsmith did not have a point in the team's first three matches of the season, but followed that with 23 points in the team's next seven matches. Goldsmith was selected as the National Player of the Week by three outlets on Sept. 12 after an impressive weekend of play. The NSCAA, College Soccer News and TopDrawerSoccer each named Goldsmith as their recipient of the national weekly honor. The Bristol, England product had two goals and an assist in the team's 4-2 win over (then) #7 Santa Barbara. He added two goals in the 3-0 win over Oregon State, which was receiving votes in the national polls.
 
FIRE WHEN READY: David Goldsmith is among the national leaders in both shots and shots on goal, averaging 5.20 (third) and 2.70 (second) respectively in those two categories.
 
FIRSTS: Sophomore Jared Timmer converted a penalty kick against Providence, his first goal in a Butler uniform. He added another goal at Indiana…redshirt junior Tanner Witsken assisted on David Goldsmith's game-winner at Villanova in the BIG EAST opener; it was the first point of Witsken's Butler career…Derek Sutton got the first start of his Butler career against Georgetown. He became just the 14^th Bulldog to start a match this season.
 
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: With 39 career goals entering this week's action, senior David Goldsmith is tied for second among active players in career goals. Despite missing four matches due to injury last season, Goldsmith finished third nationally in goals per game.