VILLANOVA – The Bulldogs earned three important points in the conference standings on Thursday afternoon by recording a 2-1 road win at Villanova. Butler led 1-0 at the half and would add an insurance goal in the opening stages of the second to come out victorious.
The first goal of the game came off a BU corner kick.
Amanda Kowalski put the ball in front of the Nova net and after a few seconds of chaos, the 'Dawgs would go up 1-0 on the scoreboard.
Halle Stelbasky would find
Annika Schmidt on the play. It originally looked like a header goal would be credited to Schmidt, but the final box score would read own goal due to the attempt bouncing off a Villanova defender before entering the goal.
Butler's second goal of the afternoon came off a beautiful pass from
Madison Toth. Toth played the ball in from right to left to beat the Wildcat back line.
Halle Stelbasky would finish for her sixth goal of the season.
BU allowed a Villanova goal just three minutes later to deny the shutout, but that stingy Butler defense would seal the deal and keep the Butler lead at 2-1.
Overall shots would favor Villanova 14-10. The Wildcats took 13 of their 14 shots in the second half trying to tie the game. BU was much more balanced taking five shots over the first 45 minutes and another five in the second half.
Goalkeeping duties were once again split for the Bulldogs. Luedtke posted a clean sheet during the first 45 minutes of action and
Leonie Doege would make one stop for Butler during her outing.
Stelbasky would find the back of the net on one of her three shots.
Anja Savich led all players with four total shots.
The win improves Butler's overall record to 12-5-1 which includes a 6-2-1 mark against BIG EAST opponents. Bulldog fans will need to keep an eye on the match between St. John's and DePaul later tonight (7PM) to see where the 'Dawgs will finish in the conference standings.
Butler and St. John's entered today with 16 points. St. John's would own the tiebreaker with a win vs. DePaul, making them the No. 2 seed and Butler the No. 3. If DePaul wins at St. John's or if the two teams end in a tie, BU will be the No. 2 seed and host a semifinal match on Nov. 1.
