The Butler men's soccer team opens the 2026 regular season with a pair of home matches this week at the Sellick Bowl. The Bulldogs host Northern Illinois on Thursday followed by Bradley on Sunday.

Butler vs. Northern Illinois
DATE/TIME: Thursday, August 20 / 5PM
LOCATION: Indianapolis, Ind. / Sellick Bowl
LIVE VIDEO: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: butlersports.com / StatBroadcast
TICKETS: butlersports.com

Butler vs. Bradley
DATE/TIME: Sunday, August 23 / 7PM
LOCATION: Indianapolis, Ind. / Sellick Bowl
LIVE VIDEO: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: butlersports.com / StatBroadcast
TICKETS: butlersports.com

Bulldog Bits

• Brendan Cunningham, who finished third on last year's team with six points, leads all returning Bulldogs in offensive production. He produced a pair of goals and dished out two assists.
• Lou-Kent Bosc returns as the Bulldogs' most seasoned veteran. Over four seasons, he has accumulated 44 appearances with 34 starts. Manolo Ferreres is next, with 33 appearances and 32 starts.
   
• Ian Sarachan enters his first season as head coach for the Bulldogs.
• Coach Sarachan, who was most recently an assistant with the Colorado Rapids of MLS, previously helped Creighton to the NCAA College Cup as an assistant coach and led UIC to the NCAA Elite Eight as a student-athlete.
• Sarachan previously served as an assistant at Santa Clara and Wisconsin. He helped lead the Badgers to the 2013 NCAA Tournament, the program's first NCAA appearance since its 1995 national championship season. Sarachan started his coaching career in 2012 as an assistant coach for the LA Galaxy's U-14 and U.S. Soccer Development Academy U-16 teams. He transitioned to assistant coach of the Galaxy's USSDA U-18 team in 2013.
• Butler has replaced 11 players from the 2025 roster with five transfers (Haato Efune/Monroe CC, Jaden Hancock/El Camino CC, Anden Ellis/SMU, Braden Benyr/SLU, Hudson Sullivan/Cal Baptist) and four freshmen. 

Northern Illinois
Series: Butler leads, 7-0-0     
Streak: Butler, W7
Most Recent: Sept. 13, 2013 (DeKalb, Ill.) - Butler 1, NIU 0
Head Coach: Ryan Swan (10^th Season)

• Both programs were members of the Midwest Collegiate Conference for the first five meetings (1994-1996)
• The Bulldogs won all five contests in the 1990s, which included both regular season and MCC Tournament games. 
• Butler also won in 2007 (2-1 2OT) in DeKalb.

Bradley
Series: Butler leads, 3-2-0                 
Streak: Bradley, W1
Most Recent: Aug. 26, 2011 (Indianapolis) - Bradley 4, Butler 1
Head Coach: Tim Regan (Third Season)

• Butler won matches in Peoria, Ill., in 2008 and 2005.
• Bradley won the first-ever meeting, in 1989, but the Bulldogs won the following year, 2-0 in OT.