BACK TO WORK: The Bulldogs begin the 2016 regular season Friday night with a 7:30 p.m. contest at Louisville. The match will be streamed live through the WatchESPN app.
 
EXHIBITION SUCCESS: Butler played three exhibition matches to warm up for the 2016 season. The Bulldogs posted wins over Big Ten foes Ohio State and Michigan State, while falling 2-0 to local professional team Indy Eleven of the NASL.
 
THE GOLDEN RETURN: Senior David Goldsmith was unanimously selected to the preseason All-BIG EAST team, as announced by the conference office August 17. Goldsmith has earned Second Team All-BIG EAST honors in each of his first three seasons in Indianapolis. He was a CoSIDA Academic All-American (Third Team) in 2015.
 
LOOKING BACK: The Bulldogs posted an impressive 10-4-4 record a season ago, finishing third in the BIG EAST with a 6-3 conference record. Butler was one of the last six programs in the country last season to register a loss (which didn't come until Oct. 6) after starting the season 6-0-3. Butler did not advance out of the BIG EAST Quarterfinals as Providence moved on to the semifinals in penalty kicks.
 
LOOKING AHEAD: In tight voting by the league's coaches, Butler was selected to finish fifth in the 2016 campaign. Creighton was selected as the preseason favorite, followed by Georgetown, Providence, Xavier, and then the Bulldogs. Providence, Xavier and Butler were only separated by eight points in the poll. Villanova (sixth), Marquette, St. John's, DePaul, and Seton Hall rounded out the 10-team field.
 
CAPTAINS OF THE SHIP: Goldsmith joins classmates Mitch Ostrowski and Charlie Constantino as seniors for the 2016 season. Ostrowski received a medical redshirt in 2015 and returns for a fifth season. The fourth captain on the roster is A.R. Smith.
 
BIG IN THE BIG EAST: Butler returns four players who received postseason BIG EAST honors a season ago. David Goldsmith and goalkeeper Eric Dick earned second team honors, while both Marco Charalambous (unanimous) and Jared Timmer earned All-Newcomer team accolades.
 
GOLDEN GOALS: Despite missing four matches due to injury last season, David Goldsmith finished second on the team in scoring with 23 points (behind Vincent Mitchell, who was drafted in the fourth round of the MLS SuperDraft). Goldsmith tied for the team lead with 11 goals, including three game-winners. The forward finished third nationally in goals per game.
 
WELCOME TO INDY: The Bulldogs add 11 newcomers to the roster for 2016. The group includes three international standouts in Alex Lehtinen (Finland) and England's Lewis Suddick and Isaac Galliford. Six states are represented among the other eight players, including a pair of transfers in Braden Van Allen (VCU) and Wyatt Scott (Hartwick College).
 
NO REST: Eric Dick played every minute (1,702) in goal for the Bulldogs in 2016. He posted a 0.90 goals against average and seven shutouts in the team's 18 matches. Five of his shutouts came in the team's nine BIG EAST matches, as his GAA improved to 0.56, which was second in the conference. He posted a career-high 12 saves in the team's match at Georgetown, which was the highest total in the BIG EAST last season.
 
LEADER OF THE DAWGS: Paul Snape enters his sixth season at the helm of the Butler men's soccer program. Hired in January of 2011, he is the sixth head coach in program history. Snape's career record at Butler is 39-35-18 as he has guided Butler's transition from the Horizon League to the Atlantic 10 and now in the BIG EAST Conference.