The Bulldogs return to the road, traveling to Providence for a Friday night BIG EAST match-up. The BIG EAST Digital Network is your way to watch the match.
Butler enters the contest at 4-4; Providence is 6-3.
 
The Bulldogs are coming off arguably the nation's toughest stretch of a schedule, having played three consecutive Top 10 opponents. That included BIG EAST losses to Georgetown and St. John's, sandwiched around a 2-1 win over (then) No. 5 Indiana.
 
PC enters at 1-1 in BIG EAST play, with a win over Seton Hall and a loss at Georgetown. The Hoyas are the only common opponent for Butler and the Friars so far this season.
 
THE SERIES: Butler owns a 4-2-1 advantage in the all-time series with Providence. All of the meetings have taken place since Butler joined the BIG EAST prior to the 2013 season. All four of Butler's wins have been shutouts. The Bulldogs are 2-1 in matches played at Providence. The tie (2-2) was a 2015 BIG EAST Tournament quarterfinal match-up that saw the Friars advance, 5-4, on penalty kicks (in Indianapolis).
 
ONE YEAR AGO: Three second-half goals lifted Providence to a 3-2 win over Butler Sept. 22, 2018 at the Sellick Bowl in Indianapolis. Alex Lehtinen scored both goals for the Bulldogs, the first multi-goal game of his Butler career. Butler scored the first goal of the match off the head of Lehtinen in the 25th minute. The Bulldogs took that 1-0 advantage into the half despite being outshot, 9-3, by the visiting Friars.
 
Providence found the equalizer in the 59th minute as Andualem Chisholm took a long ball from Tristan Stowell and was able to flick it by charging Butler keeper Gabriel Gjergji. The tie lasted into the 76th minute when Gil Santos scored the first of two goals in a four-minute span. Butler picked up the pace over the closing 10 minutes. In the 88th minute, Derek Sutton was taken down in the box and Butler was awarded a penalty kick, which Lehtinen converted.
 
A free kick and a flurry of corner kicks over the final 120 seconds could not create a clean look at the frame for the Bulldogs as Providence held on for the conference win.
 
LAST TIME OUT: Ninth-ranked St. John's capitalized on a scoring opportunity in the first half en route to posting a 1-0 win over Butler Saturday night at the Sellick Bowl in Indianapolis. Tani Oluwaseyi scored for St. John's just a second into the 35th minute taking a combination of passes by Einar Lye and Skage Simonsen, making a touch to get behind Butler keeper Gabriel Gjergji on the left side of the frame. He was able to get his left foot on the ball from a short angle to find the net.
 
OF NOTE:
•      Butler is now 4-2 at the Sellick Bowl this season.
•      Senior forward Brandon Guhl has a team-best four goals on the young season. That mark is tied for third in the BIG EAST.
•      Assisting on Brandon Guhl's game-winner Sept. 24 against Indiana, Jack Haywood now has four assists on the season. His four assists are tied for third in the BIG EAST. Teammate Alex Lehtinen is tied for ninth in the BIG EAST with three assists.
•      Lehtinen picked up his first goal of the season in the win over Indiana Sept. 24.
•      Gjergji posted a career-high nine saves against SIUE Sept. 17. Gjergji's average of 4.25 saves per game is tied for second in the BIG EAST.
•      The Sept. 17 tally against SIUE marked sophomore Griffin DeBolt's first collegiate goal; it was also the first points of DeBolt's Butler career.
•      The 1-0 shutout over Wisconsin Sept. 12 was the second of the season for Gjergji, and the third of the sophomore's career.
•      Both of freshman Wilmer Cabrera, Jr.'s goals this season have been game-winners.
•      Eric Hollenkamp made his first start of the season for the Bulldogs in Saturday's match with St. John's.
•      Butler played against St. John's without Haywood, who is working through an injury suffered against Indiana. He joins preseason All-BIG EAST selection Jared Timmer currently on the Butler sidelines.
•      Butler limited Wisconsin to only four shots in the win Sept. 12; it marked the fewest shots allowed by Butler since an Oct. 12, 2012 match against Richmond when the Spiders were also held to just four shots.
•      Freshmen Cabrera, Jr., Hemi Nasser, and Perrin Barnes, along with junior college transfer Rhys Myers, have all started multiple matches in their first season at Butler. Jack Streberger and Brendan Hicks, a pair of redshirt freshmen, have also played their first collegiate minutes this season.