The Bulldogs return to the Sellick Bowl Friday for the BIG EAST opener as third-ranked Georgetown comes to town. All 10 BIG EAST teams begin conference play Friday.

The match will be streamed live on the BIG EAST Digital Network, which is available on Caffeine.tv, YouTube and Twitter at @BIGEASTchamps.

Butler is 3-2 on the young season, but is a perfect 3-0 thus far at the Sellick Bowl, posting wins over Western Michigan, Evansville and Wisconsin. Georgetown enters Friday's match with an unblemished 5-0 mark.

Friday's match is the first of three straight matches at home, all against Top 10 opponents in this week's United Soccer Coaches national poll. The third-ranked Hoyas will be followed in Indianapolis by No. 4 Indiana Tuesday and No. 9 St. John's on Saturday, Sept. 28.

LAST TIME OUT: Butler withstood a barrage of SIUE chances through nearly 110 minutes before the Cougars found the golden goal and a 2-1 win Tuesday night in Edwardsville, Ill. SIUE's Jorge Gonzalez scored in the 109^th minute to give the host Cougars the win. The Cougars held a significant advantage in opportunities in the second half with 11 shots and five corners. SIUE found the equalizer to knot the match 1-1 in the 60^th minute.
 
ONE YEAR AGO: Visiting Georgetown came away with a 2-0 result over Butler Oct. 5, 2018 at the Sellick Bowl in Indianapolis.

In the 18^th minute, Kyle Zajec served a free kick into the box and Dylan Nealis headed it in for a 1-0 Hoya lead. With just over two minutes remaining in the first half, Butler's Jared Timmer was taken down in the corner of the box which resulted in a penalty kick. Timmer stepped up and took it himself, but Giannis Nikopolidis's diving stop preserved the clean sheet for the Hoyas.

In the 53^rd minute, Zajec converted a penalty kick for the Hoyas, an insurance goal that gave the Hoyas a cushion over the final 30-plus minutes. Georgetown held a narrow edge in shots at 14-12; Butler had six corner kicks to only four for the Hoyas. Timmer led Butler with four shots, followed by three from Brandon Guhl.
 
THE SERIES: Butler is 1-5 in the all-time series against Georgetown, with all of the match-ups coming since Butler joined the BIG EAST prior to the 2013 season. The Bulldogs' win came in 2016, with Butler taking a 4-2 decision in Indianapolis.
 
OF NOTE:

• Tuesday's tally against SIUE marked sophomore Griffin DeBolt's first collegiate goal; it was also the first points of DeBolt's Butler career.
• With a helper on DeBolt's goal Tuesday night, Jack Haywood now has three assists on the season, tying Alex Lehtinen for the team lead. Haywood and Lehtinen are tied for third in the BIG EAST in that category.
• Butler played against SIUE without senior forward Brandon Guhl, who is fighting an injury sustained in the Sept. 12 win over Wisconsin.
• Guhl's team-best three goals are tied for second in the BIG EAST.
• The nine saves Tuesday night by keeper Gabriel Gjergji were a career-high, bettering his previous high of seven against Creighton last season. Gjergji's average of 4.2 saves per game is third in the BIG EAST.
• The 1-0 shutout over Wisconsin Sept. 12 was the second of the season for Gjergji, and the third of the sophomore's career.
• Gjergji is one of three BIG EAST keepers to post multiple shutouts so far in 2019.
• Both of freshman Wilmer Cabrera, Jr.'s goals this season have been game-winners, tying for the BIG EAST lead.
• Cabrera, Jr., is averaging 2.6 shots per game, which is ninth in the conference; he is tied for the conference lead with his two game-winning goals.
• 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.
• Butler has relied mainly on youth so far in 2019. Fourteen Bulldogs have logged at least 100 minutes so far this season. That includes three seniors, two juniors (one of which is newcomer Myers), six sophomores, and three true freshmen.