Game Notes (PDF)

The Bulldogs open BIG EAST Tournament play Wednesday night, hosting Xavier in a semifinal match at the Sellick Bowl in Indianapolis. The 7 p.m. match will air live on the BIG EAST Digital Network, part of the FOX Sports Go app.

Butler, the tournament's No. 1 seed after winning the regular season title, and Xavier, the No. 4 seed, met in Indianapolis Nov. 1. The Bulldogs received a bye into the semifinals, while Xavier posted a 3-0 win over fifth-seeded Providence in the quarterfinals Saturday. The other Wednesday semifinal is Georgetown hosting St. John's. If Butler advances to Sunday's championship match, the Bulldogs will host that in Indianapolis due to winning the regular season.

Butler is 12-4-1 overall and finished the BIG EAST regular season with an 8-1 record. Xavier is 11-5-2 on the year.

The Bulldogs lead the all-time series with Xavier, 13-5. That includes a 2-1 win less than a week ago in Indianapolis. Butler is 5-1 against the Musketeers since both teams joined the BIG EAST prior to the 2013 season. That includes a win over Xavier in the 2013 BIG EAST Tournament. Butler and Xavier were also conference foes for the 2012 season in the Atlantic 10.

Eric Leonard's game-winner Nov. 1 came in the 78^th minute of the regular season finale. In a driving rain for much of the contest, Butler weathered 13 shots and seven corner kicks from the visiting Musketeers. Both of Butler's shots on goal found the net. Isaac Galliford scored the equalizer in the 29^th minute as Lewis Suddick's short cross was flicked through to Galliford by Brandon Guhl. For Galliford, it was his third goal of the season and answered a tally by Xavier's Simen Hestnes from the 17^th minute.
Butler, which captured the 2017 BIG EAST regular season title, was well-represented as the conference announced its regular season awards and all-conference teams Nov. 3.

Redshirt senior Eric Dick was selected as the BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Year, while sophomore Guhl was named Co-Offensive Player of the Year. Head coach Paul Snape and his staff earned Coaching Staff of the Year.

Dick and Guhl were joined on the All-BIG EAST First Team by sophomore midfielder Suddick. Junior defender Joe Moulden was voted on to the All-BIG EAST Second Team.

All-BIG EAST Teams and major awards are voted on by the league's head coaches, who are not permitted to vote for their own players. All-BIG EAST First and Second Teams are comprised of three forwards, three midfielders, three defenders, one goalkeeper and one at-large selection. The BIG EAST All-Freshman Team recognizes the top-11 freshman vote earners.

Dick tied for the BIG EAST lead with eight shutouts during the 2017 regular season. The Butler captain is among the BIG EAST leaders in goals against average (0.85, third), save percentage (.833, second), and saves per game (4.38, first). Dick has been named the conference's goalkeeper of the week four times in 2017. Previously, Dick was voted to the 2015 All-BIG EAST Second Team. Dick was the 2016 BIG EAST Tournament Most Outstanding Defensive Player.

Guhl, in his first season with the Bulldogs after transferring from SMU, is second in the BIG EAST with 10 goals in Butler's 17 matches. His 24 points are also second in the conference. He has three game-winning goals so far in 2017. Guhl shared Co-Offensive Player of the Year accolades with Creighton's Ricky Lopez-Espin.

Suddick tied for the BIG EAST lead with eight assists during the regular season, despite missing three matches. He added five goals for 18 points. His five goals included a BIG EAST-best four game-winners. Twice in 2017, Suddick has received the conference's weekly offensive award. A season ago, Suddick was selected to the BIG EAST All-Newcomer Team.

Moulden anchored a Butler back line that has allowed only 17 goals in 17 contests this season. That includes eight shutouts. The junior also scored the first goal of his Butler career in the Bulldogs' 2-1 win at Marquette Oct. 28, which clinched the BIG EAST regular season title for the Bulldogs.
Butler is 7-1-1 at the Sellick Bowl in 2017.

The Bulldogs are ranked No. 15 in the RPI rankings released by the NCAA Monday, Nov. 6. Butler has wins over six top-100 RPI opponents this season (in addition to the tie against Indiana, which is No. 4 in this week's RPI): South Florida (No. 42), Xavier (No. 51), Creighton (No. 57), San Francisco (No. 58), St. John's (No. 63), and Evansville (No. 83). Butler's four losses on the season include Louisville (No. 4), Western Michigan (No. 8), and Georgetown (No. 22).
 
The Bulldogs are ranked No. 15 in this week's United Soccer Coaches poll and No. 21 in the Soccer America rankings with new polls due out Tuesday afternoon. Butler is currently ranked in all national polls: No. 14 in the Top Drawer Soccer poll and No. 16 by College Soccer News as of Monday, Nov. 6.

Butler's 2-1 win at Marquette Oct. 28 included the first goal allowed by the Bulldogs in 480:58 of game action, a stretch that dates back to an Oct. 10 loss at SIUE. Butler posted four shutouts between the SIUE and Marquette matches.

Those four shutouts include a 0-0 tie against (then) No. 1 Indiana on Oct. 18. That in-state match was played in front of 6,105 fans, the largest crowd in Butler men's soccer history and the biggest gathering since the Sellick Bowl was renovated in 2010. The previous record was 5,029 for the 2013 match against Indiana.

The double-overtime result against the top-ranked Hoosiers was the Bulldogs' first tie of the season as they had previously won all four of their overtime contests. It was the fifth straight match-up between the in-state rivals to go to overtime.

Butler posted shutouts in five of its nine BIG EAST matches with Dick in goal for each of those contests. Dick has orchestrated shutouts in eight matches this season. For his efforts, Dick has been named BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Week four times this season. Dick earned a spot on this week's College Soccer News Team of the Week Oct. 30 after posting a shutout at Seton Hall and making nine saves in the 2-1 win over Marquette. Dick has 27 career shutouts.

Suddick was named the BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week on Oct. 30. It was his second time earning the weekly honor this season. He also earned a spot on Top Drawer Soccer's National Team of the Week. Suddick played a role in three of Butler's four goals that week. Suddick scored the game-winner at Seton Hall. Suddick assisted on both of Butler's goals at Marquette, serving up a free kick that Moulden headed in and finding Guhl up the right side for the team's second goal 40 seconds later.
Suddick was named the No. 84 player nationally in a midseason list authored by Top Drawer Soccer. Suddick has missed three matches on the season. Butler is 11-2-1 in Suddick's 14 matches. In those 11 wins, Suddick has scored four game-winners and assisted on the game-winner in five of the other seven matches.

Butler's 12 wins have featured seven different Bulldogs with the game-winner (Suddick – four times, Guhl – three times, Alex Lehtinen, Harvey, Timmer, Geldenhuys, and Leonard). Galliford is third on the team in points with 11 (three goals and five assists).

The win over Creighton earlier this season was a rematch of the 2016 BIG EAST Tournament championship game that Butler won, 2-1, in Indianapolis. The BIG EAST title game win gave the Bulldogs an automatic berth in the 2016 NCAA Tournament, its first appearance since 2010. Butler has advanced to the NCAA Tournament on seven occasions (also 1995, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2009, and 2010). Five of the first six came by earning the automatic berth that came from winning the Midwestern Collegiate Conference/Horizon League Tournament.
 
Snape has gone deeper onto his bench this season after All-League player Timmer was lost for the season to a leg injury in the team's second match of the season (Aug. 28 at Louisville). Midfielder Marco Charalambous, a starter in 2016, was lost for the season due to a knee injury sustained over the summer. Starters Derek Sutton and Bennett Kim have also missed multiple matches due to injury, but both are currently back in the line-up.
 
Geldenhuys and Leonard are the only Bulldogs to start all 17 matches for the Bulldogs. Both Leonard and Geldenhuys have played all but five minutes this season. Moulden has played every minute other than being forced to sit out the IU match due to yellow card accumulation.
 
Entering the contest with Xavier, Snape has a record of 64-44-21. The Butler coaching staff, led by Snape, was named the NSCAA (now referred to as United Soccer Coaches) Great Lakes Region Staff of the Year for Division I institutions in 2016. This honor is a result of a vote by other coaches in the region.