INDIANAPOLIS – The 2016 BIG EAST Men’s Soccer Championship presented by Jeep concludes on Sunday at 12 p.m. ET in Indianapolis at the Butler Bowl as No. 4 seed Creighton battles No. 2 seed Butler for the league’s automatic berth to the NCAA tournament field. Neither team has won a BIG EAST men’s soccer tournament title.
Matchup: No. 4 [24] Creighton at No. 2 [15] Butler
Time: 12 p.m. (ET)
Live Stats: Statbroadcast
Live Video: FS2
Notes: The BIG EAST automatic qualifier is at stake in Sunday’s BIG EAST Championship final. Butler and Creighton have never met in the BIG EAST Championship. Both teams ride three-match winning streaks en route to the final game. The last time these two teams met, it was a Top 10 showdown in Omaha, Neb. Then-No. 10 Creighton defeated then-No. 9 Butler 1-0 at Morrison Stadium. Butler, the No. 2 seed in the tournament and ranked 15th nationally will have a chance for revenge. Players to look out for in this championship match will be Butler’s standout senior forward David Goldsmith and Creighton’s senior keeper Alex Kapp. Both players won BIG EAST regular season awards with Goldsmith a Co-Offensive Player of the Year and Kapp a Co-Goalkeeper of the Year. Goldsmith scored the golden goal in the second overtime period against Villanova on Thursday to advance the Bulldogs to the Championship game. Goldsmith has a league-best 12 goals on the year, 27 points. Kapp made nine saves to keep top-seeded Providence at bay in Creighton’s semifinal to advance the Bluejays. Kapp is second in the league in goals against average (0.70) and third in save percentage (.825). The senior transfer has 66 saves on the year.
In The BIG EAST Championship: First meeting.
Creighton In The BIG EAST Championship: 3-3-0; Fourth appearance; 2015 Runner Up (Last 2015)
Butler In The BIG EAST Championship: 2-1-1; Third appearance (Last 2015)
Match Notes:
No. 4 seed Creighton defeated top-seeded Providence 2-1 in Rhode Island, moving on to their second consecutive championship appearance. In Indianapolis, the second-seeded Bulldogs scored a golden goal in the second overtime to advance past No. 3 seed Villanova, 1-0.
Butler, ranked 15th nationally, will host Creighton, also ranked in the NSCAA top 25 at No. 24, at 12 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 13. Butler earns the home field advantage as the higher seed in the pairing.
Sunday’s contest is a rematch of an Oct. 7 battle in Omaha that the host Bluejays won, 1-0. Butler and Creighton both entered that match ranked in the Top 10 nationally. Sunday’s matchup is the third game this season with two BIG EAST top 25 programs playing each other. Creighton has won all three.
Neither team has won a BIG EAST Men’s Soccer Championship title. It will be Butler’s first appearance in the championship match. Creighton was the 2015 BIG EAST Championship Runner Up. It will be the Bluejays’ second year playing as the road team.
Both teams are riding three-match winning streaks into the final.
The winner of Sunday’s match will earn the league’s automatic qualifier to the NCAA tournament field. The NCAA tournament selection show will air on Monday, Nov. 14 at 1 p.m. on NCAA.com. The runner up and a few other teams will wait to see if the league can garner at-large berths in addition to the Championship winner. The BIG EAST boasts a league RPI of 5. According to
rpiupdatemenssoccer.blogspot.com, the top four BIG EAST teams in the most updated RPI are: Butler (12); Creighton (22); Providence (28) and Villanova (42).