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Butler women's soccer (4-0, 1-0) will host Marquette (3-0, 1-0) on Thursday, March 11 before hosting Xavier (2-2, 1-0)* on Sunday, March 14. Kick-off against the Golden Eagles is set for 3 p.m., while game time against the Musketeers is 1 p.m at the Sellick Bowl.
 
The match on Sunday is Butler's Senior Day, honoring Bulldog seniors Payton Black and Taylor Crowe.
 
Bulldog Bits:

• Freshman Alli Leonard earned BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll nod, scoring twice against DePaul. She now has three goals in her first season with the Bulldogs.
• Anja Savich leads the team with 13 points off six goals and an assist.
• Stephanie Rodriguez, 2021 Preseason BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Year, has 17 saves on the season.
• Butler leads 5-3-1 in the all-time series against Marquette and a 11-8-4 advantage in the all-time series against the Musketeers.
• Savich tied a Butler record for goals in a single game after recording four against Marian. This was also her first career hat trick.
• Savich and Kaite Soderstrom are the only two players in the BIG EAST to record hat tricks so far this season.
• 10 different Bulldogs have scored at least one goal so far this season. As a team, Butler drilled at least four goals in all three non-conference games.
• Oct. 27, 2019: Bulldogs last win over the Golden Eagles (3-0); the win clinched the Bulldogs fifth consecutive and sixth overall BIG EAST Tournament berth.
• Three Bulldogs scored in last season's shutout over Marquette, including two returners, Soderstrom and Alana Wood.

Last Time Out                                                          
The Bulldogs opened the 2021 BIG EAST campaign with a 3-1 win over DePaul at the Sellick Bowl. In the first period, Alli Leonard scored twice while Becky Dean scored the third goal for the Bulldogs for a 3-0 lead at half. DePaul made aggressive moves offensively to score in the 75th minute of the game, but were not able to put together a full comeback as time expired on a 3-1 win for Butler.
 
Leonard received a BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll nod for her two-goal performance and first conference showing. In the Midwest Division of the BIG EAST, Butler sits in first place, followed by Marquette and Xavier.
 
Scouting Marquette                                                                       
The Marquette Golden Eagles enter Thursday's game at 3-0, with a 1-0 slate in divisional conference play. Elsi Twombly is the leading scorer for Marquette, tallying three goals, one in each of their three contests thus far. The goalkeeping duo of Mikki Easter and Lauren Schill have combined for a 3-0 record and a 0.67 GAA in the first three matches of the season. Schill was named BIG EAST Freshman of the Week after a clean sheet performance at DePaul at included six saves.
 
In their last meeting on Oct. 27, 2019, Butler was able to defend their home turf with a convincing 3-0 win.
 
Scouting Xavier                                                                   
Xavier (2-2, 1-0) will face off with DePaul before Sunday's home contest at the Sellick Bowl. The Musketeers are coming off a 1-0 win over Creighton going into the second week of BIG EAST Play. Three different Musketeers have notched one goal a piece this season and Olivia Jenkins has logged every minute between the pipes. Jenkins has allowed five goals in four games for a GAA of 1.25, respectively.
 
The last time these teams met was on Oct. 31, 2019, in the regular season finale, which saw the Bulldogs fall to the Musketeers 0-2 at home. The win crowned Xavier as regular season BIG EAST Champions and the No. 1 seed in the postseason tournament. The Musketeers would go on to win the 2019 BIG EAST Championship.
 
Senior Day
Crowe and Black will be honored prior to Sunday's game during Butler's Senior Day Ceremony. Black has seen time in 62 games while at Butler, including 20 starts in her career. She made the starting lineup in 17 of 19 games in 2019 and scored her first career goal in Butler's 3-0 win at Seton Hall (Sept. 29).
 
Crowe has appeared in 35 career games as a Bulldog, making 10 starting starts. The defender has tallied three career assists since the 2017 season.
 
The New BIG EAST                                                                
Women's soccer teams will play divisional schedules with six teams in the East (Connecticut, Georgetown, Providence, St. John's, Seton Hall and Villanova) and five teams in the Midwest (Butler, Creighton, DePaul, Marquette and Xavier). The divisional teams will play home and home matches against each divisional opponent. Both schedules have two bye weeks built in for rescheduling purposes if necessary. The women's championship will be hosted at Providence, April 15-18.

Up Next                                                                                             
The Bulldogs will head west to Creighton for their first true road contest of the season. Kick-off is slated for 2/1PM CT in Omaha, Neb.
 
Twitter Updates                                                                               
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