Matchday Information – Butler vs. Indiana
DATE:                          Wednesday, September 14 / 7 PM
LOCATION:                 Indianapolis, Ind. / Sellick Bowl
VIDEO:                        FloSports/Butler+
LIVE STATS:               butlersports.com
 
Full Notes

The Butler men's soccer team is hosting Indiana on Wednesday, Sept. 14, at 7 pm. A large crowd is expected in the Sellick Bowl as the United Soccer Coaches rankings (to be released on Tuesday evening) will quite possibly show both teams with a top-25 ranking. The Bulldogs are coming off a 2-0 loss to (rv) Ohio State, while the Hoosiers most recently defeated No. 9 Akron, 2-0.

Bulldog Bits
(through games 9/11/2022)

• Palmer Ault's two game-winning goals lead the BIG EAST and rank second nationally.
• Wilmer Cabrera Jr. ranks 5th in the BIG EAST and 62nd nationally with 1.5 shots on goal per game.
• Gabriel Gjergji's shutouts (2-4th), save percentage (.842-4th), and goals-against average (.763-5th) all rank in the top-five in the BIG EAST.
   
• Butler has been ranked as high as No. 12 this season, and Indiana has been ranked as high as No. 13 in the United Soccer Coaches poll.
• The Bulldogs had three wins over ranked opponents in the 2021 season that included No. 18 Lipscomb (3-1), No. 20 Providence (2-1), and No. 24 St. John's (1-0 OT).
   
• Butler opened the 2022 season with three victories. This was the first time a Paul Snape-coached team opened with three wins, and it was the first time since 2010 that any Bulldogs team had started the season on a three- game win streak. The 2010 team won its first 12 matches of the season.
• Gabriel Gjergji has started the season with two shutouts and, with 18 in his career, is now tied for third on Butler's all-time list for shutouts. He is currently tied with the Bulldogs' goalkeeper coach, Assistant Coach Fabian Knopfler, who played for Butler from 2007-10.
• With 353 minutes in goal this season, Gjergji has amassed 6685 for his career. He now ranks number one on Butler's all-time list for goalkeeper minutes, surpassing the previous leader in the category, Eric Dick (2014-17).

The Matchup

• SERIES RECORD: Indiana leads, 24-5-4
• LAST MEETING: 8/31/2021 - Bloomington, Ind. - Indiana 1, Butler 0
• Butler's most recent win (2-1) was in Indianapolis on Sept. 24, 2019.
• In the last ten matchups, Indiana leads 5-2-3.
• Butler beat the No. 5 Hoosiers (2-1) in 2019 and tied No. 1 Hoosiers (0-0) in 2017.

Scouting (rv) Indiana

• Previous match: No. 9 Akron, W, 2-0
• The Hoosiers were ranked No. 13 in this year's United Soccer Coaches Preseason Poll.
• Indiana lost to last year's College Cup Champion, Clemson (2-3), tied Portland (3-3), and beat St. John's (1-0).

        Individual Statistics

• Offensive standouts for Indiana include: #18 Ryan Wittenbrink (2g, 1a)

        #10 Tommy Mihalic (2g)
        #9 Samuel Sarver (2g)
        #11 Nyk Sessock (2a)

• JT Harms and Bryant Pratt have each started two games in goal for the Hoosiers. Harms (1-1) has given up 3 goals (1.25 GAA) and made 9 saves (.750), producing one solo and one combined shutout. Pratt has given up 3 goals (1.89 GAA) and made 1 save (.250), and has 1 shared shutout.