Butler will host DePaul at the Sellick Bowl on Wednesday to mark the beginning of BIG EAST play. The game is set to kick off at 3 p.m.
The match will be streamed live on the Butler Athletics YouTube channel as a student-run production in conjunction with the university's College of Communication.
BIG EAST play during the spring 2021 schedule will be modified to include regional BIG EAST opponents. Butler is scheduled to have a home-and-home series against each of their four Midwest opponents (DePaul, Xavier, Marquette, and Creighton).
In their shortened non-conference schedule, the Bulldogs went 0-4, dropping a 1-0 decision to Notre Dame Saturday to finish the slate. Butler's first three non-conference games were played indoors at Grand Park in Westfield before the Notre Dame match was played at the Sellick Bowl.
DePaul went 0-0-2 in their non-conference games this season. The Blue Demons have not played since Feb. 21 when they tied Loyola-Chicago, 0-0. DePaul's other result was a 2-2 tie against Northern Illinois Feb. 17.
This match-up will be the 11
th time the Bulldogs and Blue Demons have faced each other. Butler holds a 5-2-3 advantage in the all-time series. The last time the two teams met was on Oct. 12, 2019, a 2-2 (2OT) tie at the Sellick Bowl. A majority of the contests between the two teams have come since 2013 when the Bulldogs joined the BIG EAST.
Butler was predicted to be winner of the BIG EAST Midwest Division, which was voted on by the league's head coaches and announced last month. The Bulldogs had two players named to the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team in sophomore Wilmer Cabrera Jr., and senior
Rhys Myers.
Cabrera was the BIG EAST Freshman of the Year in 2019, after scoring eight goals and starting in every game. Junior
Jack Haywood was All-BIG EAST third-team in 2019 after tying for conference high in assists.
In 2019, the Bulldogs went 4-4-1 in regular season conference play. They advanced to the semifinals in the BIG EAST Tournament, before falling in penalty kicks to Georgetown.
