NEW YORK – On tap for Tuesday after the opening weekend of men’s soccer action, Villanova and Butler will play their second games of the season. Villanova will host Drexel in their home season-opener at 4 p.m., while Butler will travel close to home to IUPUI for a 7:30 p.m. match.
Both teams notched wins over the weekend with the Wildcats defeating Albany on the road 3-0 and the Bulldogs taking a 1-0 victory at Wisconsin. For Butler, sophomore Bennett Kim netted the eventual game-winner 19 seconds after entering the match in the second half. In Villanova’s game at Albany, Padriac McCullaugh headed in the Wildcats’ first goal and eventual game-winner in the 46th minute of game action.
Creighton, Xavier and Providence are the league’s remaining undefeated teams as all three notched two wins over the weekend. On the foot of junior forward Fabian Herbers with a goal in each contest, No. 6 Creighton defeated Michigan, 1-0 and Milwaukee, 4-0. Goalkeeper Connor Sparrow opened the season with back-to-back shutout wins. Sophomore forward Matt Vasquenza led No. 19 Xavier with five points for the weekend, netting two goals in the Musketeers 8-0 win over EIU on Friday and adding an assist on the go-ahead goal in the 2-0 victory at Wisconsin on Sunday. BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week Mac Steeves netted four goals for the weekend for No. 7 Providence as the Friars defeated Bryant 2-1 in overtime and Monmouth 2-0 in back-to-back home games. Against Bryant, Steeves scored both goals, with the game-winner coming in overtime off a penalty kick. In addition to being named BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week, Providence Mac Steeves was also named the
College Soccer News National Player of the Week.
Marquette split their games on their Pacific Northwest road trip, defeating Portland 4-2 with sophomore midfielder Alex McBride scoring the game-winner. Oregon State defeated the Golden Eagles in overtime, taking advantage of a man down Marquette team. Goalkeeper Louis Barraza made 11 saves over the weekend.
The No. 3 Hoyas went 0-1-1 with a 0-0 double overtime tie at Florida Gulf Coast on Friday. Georgetown’s final match against USF was moved to Monday morning due to inclement weather in Tampa. The Hoyas lost 2-0 in the rescheduled contest. Seton Hall also went 0-1-1, losing to College of Charleston in the season-opener 3-1, but tying Furman 1-1. Midfielder Eric Lagg scored with 14 seconds left in the first half to tie the Paladins with his first goal since 2012.
DePaul lost 4-0 to Elon and 1-0 to Duke in Durham, N.C., while St. John’s lost to both top 15 teams, 1-0 to No. 14 Indiana and 4-0 to No. 13 Maryland at the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic.
After the first weekend of action, the BIG EAST men’s soccer teams are 9-7-2.